Making Connections

Making Connections

Just as residents of Manhattan today rely on networks of goods and services, so did those on the island in 1609. A Beaver, for example, needed a meandering stream and trees for food and shelter. The beaver, in turn, created a pond for fish and frogs. By tracing such relationships, researchers mapped out a network of likely species, called the Muir Web (after naturalist John muir), as depicted in this simplified chart.