Biogas is a very good example of an idea that contributes to a symbiotic relationship between humans and nature. On each side of my diagram is the ecosystem and the Social System and its components related to each of them. In the design of my diagram I tried to show Biogas as the driving force of its many positive impacts, some of which also branch off and have further effects on the system. While biogas’ immediate purpose might be to lower human effort in collecting firewood and produce less harmful gases from stoves, through its byproducts the women of the village were able to provide a living for themselves producing and selling organic compost. And from this compost, farmers produced higher yields of higher quality crops which benefits the local people and economy greatly.
When comparing my diagram to Gerry Marten’s figure 1.5 in “Human Ecology,” I notice we have some similarities and differences. I would say Gerry’s figure includes a lot of similar ideas to mine, including the production of compost and the decrease in deforestation. However we differ in some areas, especially on the social system-side. I chose to include farmers on the social-side due to the primarily human impact it has. He also doesn’t include the economic impact of the situation, like how the local women were making a living and farmers were earning more from their crops. We seem to have differences because he focused more on the broader implications of this product while I focused more on the specific impacts it makes to the people involved. From comparison of the two designs I believe it makes it clear there are always more angles to look at issues than we might imagine.
Hey Ryan, my name is Kyle Hoke, check out my system diagram here: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/27/kyle-hoke-biogas-system/. I like that you used Biogas as a center point in your diagram. I think that is the most important aspect of this system, as it creates the clean cooking fuel and eliminates the use of wood to create fuel. I also like that you included the byproducts other than fuel from the biogas system, like the jobs it creates for women selling the fertilizer. Although not the intended purpose, it still proves to be a huge benefit. I think most of our diagrams would differ from Gerry’s, and I agree that he stayed very broad in his diagram while you and I focused on more specific results. However, like you said it is always good to see two different opinions.