Mapping the Historical Evolution of Invasive Species in Pittsburgh
Assignment #3: Mapping the Evolution of a Wicked Problem
Carnegie Mellon University, School of Design, Transition Design Seminar 2024
Background
Transition Design is a transdisciplinary approach that is aimed at addressing the many ‘wicked’ problems confronting 21st-century societies: climate change, forced migration, political and social polarisation, global pandemics, lack of access to affordable housing/healthcare/education and many others. These problems are interconnected, and interdependent and always manifest in place and culture-specific ways. Transition Design argues that new knowledge and skill sets are required to address these problems and that their resolution is a strategy for igniting positive, systems-level change and societal transitions toward more sustainable, equitable and desirable long-term futures. Transition Design Seminar 2024 is taught by Terry Irwin & Gideon Kossoff
Team Murmuration: Anthony Haynes, Eugina Chun, Kyla Fullenwider, Ruby Wu and Vanya Rawat
Introduction
Wicked problems are complex issues that are intricately intertwined with the social dynamics among various groups of people and living organisms as well as social, technological, environmental, economic and political issues. Because of the intricate characteristics of wicked problems, it’s essential to grasp their historical origins to implement suitable interventions in the current context. This task involves delving into various historical occurrences that have enabled us to establish connections. We mapped the wicked problem with STEEP in Assignment 1 and mapped stakeholder relations in Assignment 2. In Assignment 3 we are utilising the Multi-Level Perspective framework (MLP) to map the historical evolution of Invasive Species. This assignment also broadened our perspective on the wicked problem and its multiple dimensions through a long-term horizon exploration
Our approach to mapping the evolution
The Multi-Level Perspective framework (MLP) is a conceptual tool used to analyse transitions in socio-technical systems. It focuses on three levels: niche innovations, socio-technical regimes, and broader landscapes. By examining interactions between these levels, MLP helps understand and facilitate sustainable transitions in complex systems over time. To better understand these three levels, it’s important to define them;
- Landscape: The top level represents the overarching systems where significant, widespread events impacting many individuals or entire societies are situated. These events typically unfold gradually over time, yet occasionally, unexpected large-scale occurrences emerge, causing sweeping and unpredictable changes across the system. Landscape events are often connected to multiple factors at the middle, Regime level. Any landscape-level event will be related to many diverse wicked problems
- Regime: The middle level represents the current state or status quo, characterised by entrenched infrastructures, networks, and established practices that become path-dependent. Similar to individuals, socio-technical systems become set in their ways. You can explore historical events and factors from 5 STEEP forces using insights from our wicked problem map. The impact or consequences of introduction at the niche level are seen at a regime level.
- Niche: The bottom level allows space for nurturing small, informal innovations shielded from immediate scrutiny, allowing for risk-taking and the questioning of norms. Innovations, whether in ideas, practices, or technologies, typically emerge at the niche level in response to dynamics occurring within both the regime and landscape levels.
We had to identify key dynamics of change within the socio-technical system contributing to interconnected wicked problems. This exercise allowed us to incorporate Transition Design to expand upon the MLP framework, providing a spatio-temporal context for the evolution of the wicked problem of Invasive Species.
We started with an in-class activity where we speculated about the factors creating or connected to Invasive Species at different levels of scale.
Then as a team, we started a Google doc where we split 5 time periods to start researching and documenting our findings according to year. We then labelled these events with Landscape, Regime and Niche. During this process, we added very detailed occurrences during a period and didn’t cull anything we didn’t fit.
In our map of the evolution of invasive species, to better understand the significance of each regime or niche-level event we added tags for 5 categories: infrastructure, social, economic, ecological and political. We also made lines of connection between points across different levels to showcase how they have evolved or affected.
Our Findings
1824–1874
“Man is surprised to find that things near are not less beautiful and wondrous than things remote. The near explains the far. The drop is a small ocean. A man is related to all nature.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
The mid-19th century gave way to the broad emergence of early American environmentalist attitudes, culminating in the formation of research institutions, new scientific endeavours, and philosophical practices that sought to bring man and nature closer together. The character of this period is best embodied by the American Transcendentalist movement, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, through their works such as Nature and Walden. The ecologically conscious thought, practices, and integration of stewardship with inquiry during this period operated in stark contrast to the industrialising backdrop of American society, cultivating the first seeds of more substantial conservation and responsible resource management policy. Though comparatively sparse, the landscape, regime, and niche changes during this period are essential predecessors to more modern efforts to the effects of invasive plant species:
Landscape
The landscape of America between 1824 and 1874 was bracketed by the systemic influences of the First Industrial Revolution (1750–1830) in Britain and the broader Second Industrial Revolution (1870–1914). Between these developments, early utilitarian conservation ideas and practices centred upon the effective management of natural resources became prevalent. These practices were foundational in early environmental accounting efforts to maintain public goods and commons, preserving their capacity to support as broad a public as possible.
Even so, the effectiveness of these practices became increasingly limited, subordinated to the demands of population growth, industrialization, and corresponding urbanisation across the nation. Environmental challenges driven by depletion are presented across ecological domains, as evidenced by the decline of old growth in Eastern forests and dwindling fish stocks. In-kind during this period, westward expansion was characteristically followed by massively transformed, neglected landscapes.
As the Second Industrial Revolution began to take hold in the New England region of America, the influence of the Transcendentalist movement faded. Proponents of environmental maintenance grew more numerous, although the capacity for disrupting the natural balance of ecosystems grew far more rapidly.
Regime
The regime level during this period of American history was quite environmentally progressive; the magnitude of changes may appear limited in hindsight, however, the institutionalisation of environmental legislation and inquiry during this period serves as a bedrock precedent for current environmental policy.
In 1836, the Pennsylvania Geological Survey was formed with the explicit mission of “serv[ing] the citizens of Pennsylvania by collecting, preserving, and disseminating impartial information on the Commonwealth’s geology,” with the intent of cultivating ecological knowledge and wisdom for its application. As similar scientific and philosophical institutions were founded during this period, they generated discourse, communities of practice, and a broadly formalised familiarity between the natural world and organised society.
Several decades later in 1862, the first noxious weed law was enacted in Pennsylvania, to educate the public of the dangers posed by and prevent the spread of noxious plants “determined to be injurious to public health, crops, livestock, [and] agricultural land.” This legislation was among the earliest pieces that sought to limit the environmental impact of imported and non-native plant species on local agricultural and native plant species.
Within the following decade, Pennsylvania implemented more comprehensive legislation consolidating several wildlife protection laws with the 1873 Wildlife Act. A notable intention for this legislation was to protect the North American passenger pigeon, which was previously among the most numerous native bird species on the continent. Though ultimately insufficient, this early legislation to protect native species predicated a vital component for effectively reducing the invasion opportunities of non-native species by preserving the resilience of native species in the ecosystem.
Niche
At the niche level, the environmental and philosophical Transcendentalist movement epitomised the inseparable, interconnected, and interdependent human-nature relationship. Authors Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were among the most prevalent thought leaders in this discourse. In Nature, Emerson explores the transformative teachings that nature itself can provide to those who seek to understand the essence of the natural world beyond its utilitarian value. Through these explorations, Emerson’s collective works integrate Goethe’s studies into the essence of plants and the modern, interconnected systems view of ecology, tying together the threads of a centuries-long growth in ecological consciousness.
An interjecting niche-level development was the 1875 introduction of Japanese barberry to the United States as an ornamental plant. Their prolific and dense growth into thickets made them amenable for landscaping throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout this period, their hardiness, capacity to outcompete native species, and lack of native predation have enabled them to become entrenched within many Pennsylvania forests.
1875–1925
Within the verdant expanse of Pittsburgh’s environmental history, the saga unfolds across three distinct yet interwoven strata: landscape, regime, and niche. Each layer, a testament to the evolving consciousness and actions towards environmental conservation, narrates the intricate dance of humans with nature, particularly in the context of invasive species management.
Landscape
As the 19th century waned and the 20th dawned, a global awakening to environmental conservation took root, fundamentally altering societal attitudes and U.S. policies. This newfound awareness birthed national parks and conservation movements, heralding a paradigm shift towards recognizing the value of untouched nature.
Regime
At the heart of the legal and regulatory battles against invasive species stands the Lacey Act. Lacey Act of 1900s, a legislative pioneer aimed at curbing wildlife trade to protect game and wild birds. This act marked a pivotal moment in environmental legislation, embodying the collective desire to preserve the natural world for posterity (APHIS).Enacted amidst a rising tide of environmental consciousness, the Act laid down the gauntlet, establishing a robust legal framework dedicated to halting the spread of harmful foreign species. This foundational law was later fortified by the Weeks–McLean Act of 1913 and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, broadening its reach to safeguard native bird species and their habitats (Pittsburgh Quarterly). Yet, this burgeoning legal arsenal was not without its flaws, revealing the inherent challenges in managing already established invasive species. These early legislative efforts painted a vivid picture of a regime grappling with the complex realities of ecological preservation.
Niche
Beneath the overarching canopy of legislation and policy, the late 19th and early 20th centuries also witnessed the germination of formal ecological research and the blossoming of conservation strategies. This nascent period of scientific inquiry laid the groundwork for sophisticated approaches to invasive species management, driven by an increasingly knowledgeable and concerned public. The formation of the Pennsylvania Alpine Club in 1917 epitomised the burgeoning role of community-based conservation efforts, illuminating the power of collective action in stewarding the environment. These grassroots movements and academic endeavours formed the bedrock of niche-level innovation, intertwining closely with the broader landscape and regime efforts to forge a comprehensive front against invasive species.
The interplay between the landscape’s awakening, the regime’s structure, and the niche’s innovation encapsulates Pittsburgh’s multifaceted journey through the realms of environmental conservation. From the sweeping vistas of global awareness to the minutiae of local action, this narrative weaves together the diverse threads of legislation, community engagement, and scientific research into a rich tapestry of ecological stewardship. As Pittsburgh navigates the ongoing challenges posed by invasive species, it does so with a legacy of concerted effort and collective will, striving to balance human endeavour with the intricate demands of the natural world.
1925–1974
“Extinction by habitat destruction is like death in an automobile accident: easy to see and assess. Extinction by the invasion of exotic species is like death by disease: gradual, insidious, requiring scientific methods to diagnose.”
-Biologist E. O. Wilson
The period between 1925–1974 saw seismic shifts in how Americans viewed and understood the problem of invasive plant species. This period in some ways marked the most dramatic change in attitudes and awareness of the “disease” caused by biological invasives that Wilson described. From the desperation of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression years to the post-World War II boom and eventually the publication of Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking book Silent Spring, American collective understanding of ecological systems began to transform in just 50 years. Some of the key landscape, regime, and niche changes that occurred during this period are highlighted here.
Landscape
The landscape changes from 1925–1974 could arguably be the most significant in American history outside the Civil War. As part of government mitigation efforts, the multiflora rose was introduced to help create green fences that would address the devastating soil erosion. They quickly formed impenetrable thickets and spread throughout the U.S. and Pennsylvania, outcompeting native plants for space and causing long-term harm to ecosystems.
World War II brought perhaps the most consequential landscape changes of the 20th century. In many ways a new world order was ushered in and with it the Atomic Age and the modern technical science paradigm which prioritised technical dominance over nature with little consideration of ecosystem health. Many of the same scientific “advancements” made during the war were brought home to further economic progress and expansion, including the chemical DDT. The post-war baby boom yielded significant population growth and the rise of suburbs filled with single-family homes, the Great American Lawn, and with it many exotic invasive plant species.
As the growth of the American economy and the American dream increasingly become intertwined, Pennsylvania native Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring and subsequent congressional testimony and media appearances ushered in the beginning of the modern American environmental consciousness and movement. And yet, this couldn’t stem the exponential growth of global travel, a consequence of cheap gas, a growing global middle class, shifting cultural norms, and globalisation more broadly. Globalised travel for the middle class marked a new era of international tourism and with it the unprecedented import of invasive species and plants brought across borders both accidentally and intentionally.
Regime
Regime changes during this period largely centred around government actions: policy change and legislation. The Dust Bowl years from approximately 1934–1940 created seismic disruptions to American agriculture and permitted large-scale government intervention. In 1938, the passage of the Fair Labor Standards made a 40-hour workweek the new U.S. norm for the first time. As the Great Depression receded, many Americans devoted newly free weekends to their lawns. World War II briefly disrupted those efforts, but post-war prosperity and the rise of single-family homes would only accelerate their growth and with it the introduction and dissemination of invasive plant species.
By 1955 chemical use was widespread in lawns and on farms across the US. The “Fire Ant Wars” normalised the widespread use of DDT and other chemical pesticides as part of the eradication of invasive species, which would continue unabated until DDT was outlawed in 1972, due in large part to mounting evidence of the pesticide’s declining benefits and environmental and toxicological effects. The publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring stimulated widespread public concern over the dangers of improper pesticide use and the need for better pesticide controls.
By 1974 public awareness of invasive species was growing as evidenced by the passage of the Federal Noxious Weed Act, which established for the first time a federal program to control the spread of noxious weeds. The US Secretary of Agriculture was given the authority to declare plants “noxious weeds”, and limit the interstate spread of such plants without a permit, however, these efforts were challenged by the increasing influence of special interest lobbying groups and bureaucratic hurdles.
Niche
Niche-level activities during this period were powerful and in many cases almost immediately created regime and even landscape shifts. In 1942, at the height of World War II, Paul Herman Muller won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of high-efficiency DDT, a clear signal that the public deemed scientific progress critical during a very vulnerable period. Soon after, the detonation of the first nuclear weapon test in New Mexico on July 16th 1945 is a case in point. Almost instantly, the awareness of the profound implications was clear to the public and ushered in the Atomic Age.
It wouldn’t be until Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring in 1962 exposing the hazards of the pesticide DDT that a public reckoning would take place and subsequently start to question the modern scientific paradigm that pitted man against nature. And while DDT was banned a decade later in 1972, just two years later Glyphosate was introduced to the market by conglomerate Monsanto. Glyphosate or “Roundup” will go on to become one of the most popular herbicides in the US used in residential, commercial, and public lands to beat back the onslaught of invasive plant species among many others.
American culture remained a powerful force on the public psyche. Manifest Destiny remained a strong cultural norm and would be further expanded into global tourism as British-owned Laker Airways was founded in 1967 and paved the way for cheap international commercial flights, opening the international travel market to the American middle class and with it an onslaught of invasive species.
1974–2024
The last fifty years between 1974–2024 have been characterised by sweeping environmental, social, economic, and political changes, broadly encapsulated by the influence of globalisation and global climate change. These domain-wide changes have evolved into a confluence of wicked problems much more complicated and advanced than those of previous periods, largely due to the speed and intensity of change. Global travel and trade have made accessibility to foreign environments commonplace, for people, flora, and fauna alike. Through either the intentional introduction of non-native species for agriculture and economic cultivation or through incidental introduction, non-native species have decimated the resilience of local ecosystems.
In recognition of the scale of these domain changes and their ecologically existential relevance, there has been significant environmental legislation passed to protect against the effects of invasive species and niche-level investigation to better understand the impact of invasives on both ecosystems, society, and the economy.
Landscape
From 1974–to 2024, the landscape level expands to the globalisation of air travel and wide-scale climate change with global warming. During this time, air travel became mainstream as a consequence of cheap gas, a growing global middle class, shifting cultural norms, and globalisation more broadly. The 1994 National Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expanded the influence of globalisation on air travel as it introduced the lifting of tariffs on the majority of goods produced by the participating nations. Because of this increased affordability, globalised travel for the middle class marks a new era of international tourism, and alongside it, the regularised import of invasive plant and animal species brought across borders through incident and intention.
Across the ecological dimension at the landscape level, the widespread use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants causes a substantial thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica. In concert with the exponential increase in carbon emissions over this period due to increased air travel, global climatic conditions become increasingly destabilised. As a correlate at the regime level, the Montreal Protocol serves as a successful world-first initiative to legislate and take decisive action to repair ecological damage through the elimination of CFC refrigerants. Notably, this legislation provides an example of effective cross-institutional and transnational collaboration to resolve a transboundary environmental problem, such as that characterised by invasive species.
Despite the success of the Montreal Protocol as an example of effective environmental legislation in the late 20th century, the state of the global climate in the 21st century has continued to deteriorate at a rapid rate. 2023 has been characterised as the hottest year on record since record-keeping began in 1850. With the increase in global temperatures, previously stable climate ranges expand and shift, shifting the viable habitats for plant and animal species. These climatic shifts facilitate the continued spread of invasive species and further complicate mitigation efforts, locally and globally.
Regime
At the regime level, legislative action during this period is substantial and essential. Beginning in 1974 with the passage of the Federal Noxious Weed Act, the United States began to take systemic action at the federal level to address the threats of unregulated non-native species spread. Between 1982 and 2000, the Alien Species Prevention and Enforcement Act, Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act, Everglades Forever Act, and the National Invasive Species Act were all passed with the explicit dual intent of protecting existing native ecosystems and regulating the distribution of potentially dangerous non-native species which had the potential to seriously destabilise local ecosystems.
Institutionally during this period, the National Invasive Species Council was established through Executive Order 12112, marking the formal collaboration of federal agencies on the tall task to prevent further introduction and spread of invasive plant and animal species. From another angle of environmental governance, legislative efforts are taken to protect Americans from the negative impacts of the pesticides and agricultural chemicals used to abate invasives and agricultural pests with the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act in 1996. Though limited in its broad effectiveness, this act created precedence for the later pursuit of civil redress due to the negative health impacts of Monsanto’s RoundUp product, containing glyphosate, and its concentrated impacts on Americans from low-income neighbourhoods. As of 2024, there have been 54,000 Roundup cases, with settlements in approximately 100,000 lawsuits.
Niche
At the niche level, there have been a multitude of government, academic, and ecological events that have wound their way through varying aspects of the regime. In 1973, a “white” or “clean” list approach was proposed for the Lacey Act, as a mechanism to minimise the risk of plant and animal imports, though the U.S. Department of the Interior abandoned the plan due to mounting pressures from environmental enthusiasts and academic researchers. After early success in dissuading an executive order restricting exotic species import by President Carter in 1977, this particular form of lobbying took root and later dominated the legislative efforts between 1990 and 2000. The prevalence and effectiveness of these groups inhibited or altered the passage of acts that would have otherwise more comprehensively responded to the threat of invasive species.
On the opposing end of institutional action, a 1993 report by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment determined that this lack of effective legislative efficacy amounted to hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in economic damages caused by proliferating invasive species.
Shortly after this report, the United Nations 1996 Conference on Alien Species identified the scope and scale of the threat that invasives posed to biological diversity, substantiating a collective understanding for more systemic and international cooperation to address the issue at the regime level.
Between 2000–2024, a host of particularly damaging invasive species have spread across Pennsylvania, including the emerald ash borer, Japanese barberry, and the spotted lanternfly. The emerald ash borer has had the most catastrophic impact, having killed tens of millions of ash trees in Pennsylvania and throughout North America since its 2007 documentation in western Pennsylvania. The Japanese barberry has been linked to adverse human health effects, with a large correlation in the increased prevalence of Lyme disease attributed to the plant’s spread and quality as an ideal environment for ticks. The spotted lanternfly has proliferated since 2014, feeding on and damaging native species, while also thriving on the abundance of similarly invasive Trees of Heaven, which were also originally from Asia.
Amidst these developments, the most significant undercurrent that has defined this niche period has been the diffusion of the ecological worldview, defined by Fritjof Capra’s Systems View of Life. Before this time, a collective understanding of the natural world as an interconnected, ecological system was a fringe concept and often regarded as an animistic belief attributed to Indigenous groups. Following the 1960s, the development of computational technology that enabled mass observations and data analysis, the systemic nature of the natural environment and climate dynamics became evident. Innovators brought ecosystem health to the fore, as they implemented these technologies to map the devastating impacts of invasive plants and broader climate change. Early adopters of this sociotechnical frame were among those who have founded environmental advocacy organisations, served as landscape architects and designers, and educated an engaged citizenry on the essential nature of ecological awareness. Within the last decade, this worldview has become a primary component in the contemporary understanding of ecosystem health and the advocacy for global environmental responsibility.
Reflections and Next Steps
As a team, we went through many iterations of our Google doc before we even started adding post-its on the board. An important learning for us was that the way we frame our statements can impact which level they should be placed at. For example, Colonisation is a landscape-level event but framing it as ‘English Colonists settle in Virginia’ makes it a regime-level event. We learned about the vital distinction between the 3 levels and how connections should be made. Devastation and Renewal: An Environmental History of Pittsburgh and Its Region by Joel A Tarr was a great reference to learn about the ecological history of Pittsburgh.
References
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- https://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/EndangeredandThreatened/Pages/PassengerPigeon.aspx
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- https://www.fws.gov/law/federal-noxious-weed-act
- https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/2555?r=11&s=1
- https://www.fws.gov/law/national-invasive-species-act-1996
- https://www.doi.gov/invasivespecies
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- https://greattransition.org/publication/systems-thinking-and-system-change
- Biological Invasions: A Growing Threat
- U.S. History Primary Source Timeline
- A LESSON LEARNED: THE HISTORY OF HORTICULTURE & INVASIVE PLANTS
- AGRICULTURE CODE (3 PA.C.S.- CONTROLLED PLANTS AND NOXIOUS WEEDS
- The Native Plant Movement
- Years After Monsanto Deal, Bayer’s Roundup Bills Keep Piling Up