Analyzing Leopold's 'The Land Pyramid'

The Land Pyramid
In modern day science, we are always introduced to a symbol of how energy is passed, from the sun, to the plants and eventually humans. Recently our elementary food chain has been diversified but degenerating. “The Land Pyramid” explicitly speaks on the environment in the image of a pyramid. In the piece, it is referred to as “the biotic pyramid.” Leopold explains that the base is soil, then plants, insects, rodents, and so on and so forth. This pyramid is very important because the preceding layer is the reason why the other layers are still existent Then he explains the role of plants and how they have an impact on not just insects but animals and other organisms. Plants start with getting energy from the sun. The energy acquired flows in circuits called biota. The biota then flows through every other organism due to the organism’s consumption of the plant. Later he goes on to speak about how man-made changes like pioneering, are not evolutionary
Overall, he suggests how there should be an “awakening” among humans towards nature or the environment. The excerpt “The Land Pyramid” fits perfectly in Leopold’s ode to nature because it correlates with the main theme of the piece. Leopold cites the story of Odysseus and the slave girls who were killed by him with no remorse because they were viewed as “property” and not like human beings. This correlates with “The Land Pyramid” because it expresses the complexities of nature and shows that there is more thriving and working that meets the eyes. Essentially, Leopold wanted us to see nature in a more ethical view than an economic view. Ethically, he believes we view the environment in an egoistic way but he wants the exact opposite. Egoism is the theory of basically acting to satisfy or further one’s own interests. He wants us to see nature in its entirety instead of what we could possibly get from