Mutualist Bestiary
A flip-book that allows the reader to mix and match the heads, bodies and legs of creatures that share ecological relationships together.
Why is predation the most famous ecological relationship, despite the most useful ones (from a human’s perspective) being mutualism and commensalism? The aim of this interactive book is to demystify the role of humans in the ecosystem in a playful visual way.
Each chapter in the book presents an inter-specie ecological relationship. The different types of relationships that exist between the species are listed and briefly explained.CH2: MOTHS, ORIOLES, MILKWEED Moths and monarch butterflies feed on the flower of the milkweed plant. These insects subsist on this food source almost exclusively on the nectar of the milkweed, often going to great lengths to seek it out.
The milkweed flowers are pollinated by the insects, playing a crucial role in the reproductive cycle of the plant.
Orioles feed on moths and other flying insects, and also construct their nests, a special hanging basket design, using fibrous plant materials such as the winged seeds of the milkweed plant.
CH3: FLOWERS, BEES, BLACK BEARS.
Much like moths and milkweed, honey bees and flowers assist one another by trading nutritious pollen for pollination services.
Black bears are famous for their love of sweets, of honey in particular. They will climb trees and risk swarms of angry stingers for the reward of calorie-rich comb. Honey likely serves as an important food source for the large mammals during times of the year when other more practical cuisine is not available.
Such disruptive attacks can endanger and even destroy the queen bee, without whom the life of the entire hive depends.
Much like moths and milkweed, honey bees and flowers assist one another by trading nutritious pollen for pollination services.
Black bears are famous for their love of sweets, of honey in particular. They will climb trees and risk swarms of angry stingers for the reward of calorie-rich comb. Honey likely serves as an important food source for the large mammals during times of the year when other more practical cuisine is not available.
Such disruptive attacks can endanger and even destroy the queen bee, without whom the life of the entire hive depends.
The chapters become incrementally more human-related, reflecting the ecological impact of the anthropocene.
CH7: MAPLE - LONG HORNED BEETLES - HUMANS
Street trees, many of which are members of the maple genus,
provide humans with many services: improved air quality, erosion prevention,
shade and temperature control.
The sap of sugar maples (which are not particularly common street trees but can be found nonetheless) can be harvested and boiled down to make delicious maple syrup, which humans particularly enjoy with their breakfast meals.
The long-horned beetle, an invasive species in North America, threatens a variety of different species of maple trees.
Did you ever wonder how invasive species spread? They are unknowingly but often intentionally transported by humans!
Have you ever seen piles of wood tree debris piled up in city parks? Parks departments throughout New York City use this tactic to manage beetle populations and divert their negative impact away from healthy street trees.
The sap of sugar maples (which are not particularly common street trees but can be found nonetheless) can be harvested and boiled down to make delicious maple syrup, which humans particularly enjoy with their breakfast meals.
The long-horned beetle, an invasive species in North America, threatens a variety of different species of maple trees.
Did you ever wonder how invasive species spread? They are unknowingly but often intentionally transported by humans!
Have you ever seen piles of wood tree debris piled up in city parks? Parks departments throughout New York City use this tactic to manage beetle populations and divert their negative impact away from healthy street trees.
From an environmentalist perspective, we hope to encourage readers to see nature (be it other fauna, or flaura) as an all-inclusive system rather than a potential commodity that only exists outside boundaries of human activity. With the latter mentality, one will evidently take note humanity’s predominantly negative impact on ecosystems worldwide.
Disclaimer: This book, being reductionist in its approach, should not be used as the only framework for classifying all relationships one has with his family, friends, pets, and fellow inhabitants of earth in general.
CH8: COFFEE - HUMANS - DOGS
Humans have cultivated coffee for centuries. Roasted beans are ground and brewed with near boiling water to produce a caffeinated, stimulating beverage.
Dogs and humans often have a mutualist relationship. Dogs need humans to walk them, and coffee helps facilitate this, especially in the mornings! Might you consider coffee and dogs to be in a mutualist relationship?
Humans have cultivated coffee for centuries. Roasted beans are ground and brewed with near boiling water to produce a caffeinated, stimulating beverage.
Dogs and humans often have a mutualist relationship. Dogs need humans to walk them, and coffee helps facilitate this, especially in the mornings! Might you consider coffee and dogs to be in a mutualist relationship?
This book is a (x2) collaborative project, conceived and created during the Environmental Art Activism class by Natalie Jeremijenko (NYU, 2017).