Here in the North we know that beavers transform the
wilderness in wonderful ways, providing habitat for fish, birds, and
storing water that sustains the whole ecosystem during dry months. Many
areas of Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are stocking
beaver because of the environmental benefits that they bring to large
wilderness areas.
Florida State University’s Felicia Coleman and Elliott Norse of the
Marine Conservation Biology Institute have been doing studies of the
red grouper in ocean areas around Florida and throughout the Gulf of
Mexico. They have discovered that the red grouper serves the ocean in
the same way that beavers serve the northern wilderness.
The grouper digs large holes in the ocean’s sandy bottom exposing rocky
surfaces at the bottom of the holes. These holes and rocky surfaces
that are exposed are protected by the grouper’s activity and provide a
place for coral, seaweed, sponges, and other marine life to start,
thrive, and congregate. When granular charcoal was added to the holes
the fish were maintaining, they took the charcoal away and scattered it
elsewhere. The holes are cleaned and maintained by this beaver-like
fish. Research has shown that when red groupers are fished out of an
area, the area becomes an underwater desert — barren of other forms of
sea life as well. Just as the beaver maintains its environment, the red
grouper is a tool that engineers and maintains the floor of the ocean
to allow the whole ecosystem to function.
Thomas Bigford, chief of NOAA fisheries’ Habitat Protection Division
says, “We’re learning that engineering happens at all sorts of
different scales, at all sorts of different levels. It changes the way
we do things. It changes what we think of as protected habitat.” The
engineering that we see in nature reflects the wisdom and design of
God. He has designed animals that can manage and sustain environments
that otherwise would be hostile to life. These animals do this in such
a way that barren areas become life-giving oasis, whether on land or
under the surface of the ocean.
Source: The Open Fish Science Journal,
January
2010.
Back to Contents
Does God Exist?JanFeb11.