Everything Is Connected
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Description
Our natural world is beautiful, complex, and deeply connected in ways we both understand and are yet to discover.
In this quilt block, I feature two creatures whose lives are inextricably connected.
The horseshoe crab has existed practically unchanged for nearly 450 million years. Yet these seemingly resilient creatures are presently in decline along our east coast and are now listed as vulnerable, putting their long term survival into question. They have suffered over harvesting for fishing bait and biomedical testing from the pharmaceutical industry due to a unique property in their blood and habitat loss.
The Red Knot, a sandpiper with an incredible migration route from the arctic tundra to the southern tip of South America, Africa and Australia, is dependent on the rich eggs of the horseshoe crab to sustain them on these long journeys. In a 2021 bird count in Delaware Bay on the Jersey coast, only 6,880 red knots were spotted, a fraction of the 90,000 birds counted at the same location in the 1980s.
Biodiversity underpins all life on our planet. Healthy communities rely on well-functioning ecosystems for clean air, fresh water, food security, health sciences, economic well being and livable climates; these vital interconnections are not always apparent or appreciated.
Respecting and protecting the natural order around us is essential for a sustainable future.
Author Photo
Publication Date
Spring 2023
Disciplines
Art and Design | Urban Studies and Planning
Recommended Citation
Emerson, Margaret Marcy, "Everything Is Connected" (2023). The Flatbush Urban Sustainability Quilt, 2023. 11.
https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/community_usquilt_2023/11