The remote Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic once had only one tree. But, efforts over the past 150 years have helped green this island. Can humans do the same with Mars?
The island of Ascension is nearly 86 square kilometers wide, located south of the equator, halfway between the continents of Africa and South America. The population of the island is about 800 people, most of them British and American citizens.
Ascension was chosen by previous scientists as the place to build the first artificial ecosystem on Earth. Today, on the island there are ground antenna stations that monitor US missile tests, space junk and perform other missions.
A place like no other on Earth.
In 1836, Charles Darwin called the island “abominable”. He stopped here during his journey from England to the Galapagos Islands.
Charles Darwin complained in his diary that the island was not suitable for British occupation and turned into a “production site”. He described the landscape here as “burnt down” and barren “completely devoid of trees”. In fact, there was still a tree on the island then.
If the Galapagos are Darwin’s paradise, Ascension is hell. The rock on the island is red like lava because the island is the top of an underwater volcano, which emerged only about 1 million years ago.
The island has only a few thousand visitors a year, but the Green Mountain on Ascension Island is a symbol of a global man-made ecosystem. This mountain is one of the most controversial topics about a completely new combination of species that do not have a similar evolutionary history and were assembled by humans.
Biotransformation on Ascension Island took place extremely violently in the late 1990s.
Charles Darwin was the first to suggest the use of technology for environmental reclamation on Ascension Island. But it was Sir Joseph Hooker – a Victorian botanist – who put the idea into practice.
He initiated an experiment that disrupted the landscape and ecology of the island. It was later found in Hooker’s diary that, in his old age, he showed remorse for his efforts. He predicted the tragic impact that would come after a century.
In his youth, Joseph Hooker was very energetic. Between 1843 and before 1850, he moved 330 plants from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London to the Green Mountain. By 1870, more than 5000 trees were planted.
Over time, the island’s soil and hydrology changed.
Some unconfirmed reports suggest that heavy rains occur shortly after planting. Over time, the island’s soil and hydrology changed.
The Royal Navy – the project’s original sponsor – said the conditions on Ascension Island were increasingly suitable for stationing. All thanks to the trees.
In the 1880s, Hooker’s “dew-catching trees” formed a small lake at the top of the mountain, called the Fog Lake – the first surface fresh water source on the island. Today, the lake is surrounded by a natural bamboo wall 12 meters high.
Scientists believe that biotransformation on Ascension Island took place in the late 1990s. The data shows the remarkable extent of Hooker’s experiment.
In 1863, sparrows, wrens, and several African coastal birds arrived on the island.
In 1863, sparrows, wrens, and several African coastal birds arrived on the island. In 1868, several types of oranges, lemons, custards, custards and lychees were grown on the island. But not everything grows.
Hooker’s botanical garden was devastated in the 1890s, and only the healthiest introduced plants survived. Flora from the Americas and Africa did not appear until most of the 90s of the 20th century.
By the early 2000s, it had become the epitome of a scientific lexicon of “novel ecosystems” .