00321 Diversity

Diversity plays a significant role in sustaining resilience in ecosystems. Functional redundancy and response diversity appear to be crucial. Functional redundancy refers to the presence of a number of species performing the same function. It provides 'biological insurance' against the disruptive effects of environmental fluctuations on ecosystem functioning. Within these functional groups, response diversity, whereby certain species will respond better to a disturbance and be able to sustain or restore a function, is also important. — Carl Folke, Resilience and Sustainable Development

When permaculturists speak of diversity, we refer to a diversity of functions and connections, not a numeric list of items at the site a/k/a “numerical diversity” —

Many elements support every function.
Every element should serve many functions.

Numeric diversity is fine and we should design for it but a diversity of functions and connections is more important.

Most of my yard space is on a street (I am on a corner lot), and the buildings are right up against the east property line. As a result, even though there is a small "back yard," most of my space is "out front" for everyone to see.

So as I began to play with some garden ideas before I got involved with the formal study of permaculture, we had a major ice storm and two old mature elm trees splintered, one of them actually falling over. Within a couple of days, we heard buzz saws outside and ran out and a city crew had cut the one that hadn't fallen over, and it fell over as we ran out shouting "no, no, stop, stop.” Confused by our outcry, they expressed astonishment when we refused to allow them to haul away any of the limbs. So we just left the two large trunk logs laying where they fell. One was right along the edge of the sidewalk, the other along one side of the driveway.

One day the code inspector comes out and he says those two dead trees are code violations, because they were "trash and debris.” He handed me the notice and I read the definition which was something along the lines of "items strewn across the property, abandoned, or otherwise having no function.”

I said — wait a minute. These logs do have functions. They are not casually strewn about. I put them where they are for specific purposes:

I sat down on one log and said — "I like to sit here and watch my garden, so it is a garden chair."
I stood up and said — "It is slowly decaying and releasing nutrients into the soil."
"It is a habitat for beneficial insects."
"Mushrooms grow on it."
"Those two bushes next to it are Oregon grape, they are forest plants, so they need some dead wood laying around on the land around them."
About that time my cat jumped up on the log and I petted it and I finished with, "And they serve as a cat petting perch."

When I got to point 3, the inspector rolled his eyes and shook his head. When I finished, he took the notice back and tore it in half.

So it comes to pass that a dead tree laying on the ground was busy doing six different kinds of work for me. That’s numeric diversity.

But wait — there is more. Let's look at this list a second time and this time add in the beneficial connections.

Garden chair. Connects with the spiritual and psychological health of my lifestyle.
Support for fertility. Connects with my household food system and also my household system for disposing/repurposing/recycling items no longer used for their original purposes.
Beneficial insect habitat. Connects with the ethical need to care for the planet AND my food system (attracting and sustaining beneficial insects) AND my duty to preserve biodiversity.
Mushroom production. Connects with my household food system. Reduces my need to travel to buy food.
Connects with personal health since Oregon grape are natural sources of antibiotics. Provides beauty during the winter (lovely copper colored winter foliage). Winter beauty pleases the neighbors and that's good too.
Making the cats happy makes me happy.

So we see that the functions of these dead trees connect to useful functions for people and for growing things and for household pets. The people, growing systems, and pets in turn connect with other functions and elements of the site. The knee bone connected to the thigh bone . . . That’s permaculture diversity.

Nutrient management is a critical function in permaculture. What possibilities are available to support the fertility of an edible landscape? Let us count the ways —

Compost in place (under the mulch around growing plants) and with a compost pile. Connects with the household food system by providing nutrients and a place to cycle food leftovers.
Water with urine diluted in water (one part urine to 10 parts water). Connects with reducing our demand on the city's sewage and water system and supports fertility.
Plant green manure crops (such as crimson clover and hairy vetch) in the fall that will grow over the winter. Supports fertility, supports household food system, winter beauty, supports psychological and spiritual health.
Vermiculture! Could be a “worm farm” and/or worms in your container plants and worms in your garden. Provides a place to cycle leftover food, supports fertility, supports household food system.
Nutrient accumulator plants (dandelions, comfrey, lemon balm, dill). These have long taproots that go deep and bring minerals to the surface in their leaves. When they die or shed their leaves, the nutrients become available to the surrounding plants. There is a long list of these plants. Many of these plants have uses as food, insect attractors, and medicine. Connects with household food and health systems.
Nitrogen fixing plants and trees (black-eyed peas, various clovers, alfalfa, redbud, this is a long list). Many of these plants have uses as food, insect attractors, and medicine. Connects with household food and health systems.
Wood ashes if available. Connects with the backup home heating system by providing a place to cycle ashes from the wood fired heater.
Using logs as landscape elements provides another source of fertility, as the logs slowly decompose and release their nutrients into the soil. Mulch slowly decays and feeds the soils. See previous commentary on the multiple functions of dead logs in the landscape.
Greywater cycled from your shower, bath, laundry, or kitchen. Connects with household food system by providing nutrients. Reduces demand on city water and sewage systems.
Compost tea. Supports fertility and household food systems.

So the critical function of nutrient management could be supported by ten elements, all of which connect with each other and to multiple other functions and elements on the site. The thigh bone connected to the hip bone . . . That’s permaculture diversity.

I live in an urban area. I can’t get all of my food from my own property. My own food system consists of the following redundant systems —

Food I grow myself.
Food grown in the local area that I buy through the Oklahoma Food Coop.
Food grown in the local area that I buy at farmers markets.
Food grown in the local area that I buy from locally owned stores.
Food grown in the local area that I buy directly from farmers at some other location.
Food from outside of this area that I buy at locally owned stores.
Food storage in case there is a problem with any of these systems.

I don’t buy national brands and I don’t shop at nationally owned chain stores. If I lived in an area without diverse shopping options, I might have to shop at a place like that. I am fortunate to live in an area of grocery diversity and to be a member of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, which links me with 120 different Oklahoma farmers, ranchers, and non-food product producers..

The design relevance early on is — as you identify critical functions, design backups to the backups. As you design, look for elements that do more than one thing. Connect functions, as a diversity of such connections builds resilience into the fabric of the design.

This diversity of beneficial connections is the most important thing about diversity for the permaculture designer. Yes we can simply multiply varieties — we really like hot peppers, so we grow habaneros and Scotch bonnets and jalapenos and Serrano and cayenne. With permaculture design, we want to reinforce functions with multiple backups, establish numerous connections between elements, and show good conservation of energy and resources by multiplying the functions of individual elements.

The design questions you constantly will ask are —

How can I maximize the beneficial connections of this element?
How many elements can support this function?
How many functions can each element support?