Sweetgrass flourishes when harvested and declines when left alone
Evidence
The surprise was that the failing plots were not the harvested ones, as predicted, but the unharvested controls. The sweetgrass that had not been picked or disturbed in any way was choked with dead stems while the harvested plots were thriving. Even though half of all stems had been harvested each year, they quickly grew back, completely replacing everything that had been gathered, in fact producing more shoots than were present before harvest. Picking sweetgrass seemed to actually stimulate growth. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 570
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: A plant species persists where it is harvested respectfully and departs where ignored. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 546; Sweetgrass persists only near Native communities that still harvest it — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 579; Sweetgrass has become dependent on human harvesting to flourish — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 578 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Sweetgrass has become dependent on human harvesting to flourish
#corroborates(0.95) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 578 - Sweetgrass renewal after harvest signals the plant’s mutual need for people
#corroborates(0.88) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 585 - Indigenous harvesting practices are environmental factors plants depend on for survival
#expands(0.82) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 499 - Some plants now depend on specific human harvesting practices to survive
#expands(0.80) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 499 - Sweetgrass decline is driven by development, not by overharvesting.
#qualifies(0.75) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 960 - Grass grows faster when grazed, a mutualism with the grazers
#exemplifies(0.75) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 576