Museum originating from Greek form, mouseion, which meant “seat of the muses” was designated as a place of contemplation. When I go to a museum, I wonder what kind of interpretation people give to different piece of art. I would wish there was a way to collect interpretation of specific art and probably origins of their interpretation due to their diverse nature because of cultures, norms and practices.

This week’s museum visit made me think of our vegetation as piece of art that we, human being, have been recreating. From the picture by Gary Green of Prairie fire near Missouri, we see smoke covering the sky in the background and dry grass in the foreground. Fire restructures vegetation we have and I would think this as origin of another type of vegetation that we get after a “fire”. This makes me think human’s role is restructuring of this planet through “fire”, which can be through various human activities. Human beings have played a big role in restructuring our surrounding to suit most of human needs leading to origins of many things surrounding our landscape. From intensification of agriculture, natural vegetation fields are cleared for crop cultivations.  This extensive cultivation is related to an increasing population of people on earth and the limited cultivation lands which do not supply enough food. Therefore, more fields are cleared and the type of vegetation covering that piece of land changes. Slash and burn agricultural practices as well leads to clearing of vegetation which not only change the landscape vegetation but also leads to some of vegetation species completely removed from that place and other type of vegetation growing after the land has lost its fertility.

Scientific revolution as well as created origin of various types of plants and crops leading to restructuring of the type of vegetation cover we have. Going back to food shortage solution of increasing the fields to produce enough crops for the increasing population, science have led to modification of crops to grow faster than usual and increase production capacity. Gregor Mendel, 1800s, an Australian scientist is considered to be the founder of modern genetics due to plant hybridization. His work can be considered as the origin of our present GMO that is increasing used in the world due to it’s father growth, high yield and also due to resistance it ha to drought or to pest and diseases.

Nature as well can respond to human action. Increase in temperatures, for example, can lead to floods due to melting of polar ice and higher evaporations which increases rain fall. From these floods, the coastal areas, or any other water body, changes geography due to depositions by flooded water which creates different physical features, destroy existing vegetation and growing of other type of vegetation there.

Therefore, I think human being has played a big role in creating and reshaping its environment making human a big player in the origin of some vegetation cover on earth by changing its structure or introducing new ones in different places. Human activities as well have lead to response by nature on its activities leading to change some landscapes or vegetation but these activities can be argued to originate from human activities apart from nature controlling itself.