nihil, you sometimes have a very categorical way of expressing yourself. I admitted to not being an expert on ecological matters. Seems to me you might have done the same. Now, let me take up a few of your points (not in order).
1) It is sheer romanticism (pathetic fallacy) to imagine "nature" without man and his works -- man and his works exist -- for good or evil.
First of all, are you quite sure you know what the Pathetic Fallacy is? Because I certainly was not guilty of committing it.
PATHETIC FALLACY. The ascribing of human traits or feelings to inanimate nature for eloquent effect, especially feelings in sympathy with those expressed or experienced by the writer, as a "cruel wind," a "pitiless storm," or the lines from Shelley's Adonais:
Pale Ocean in unquiet slumber lay,
And the Wild Winds flew round, sobbing in their dismay.
cluster.wwa.com
Now, as to your substantive point: nature existed for a good long while before man appeared, and may continue to exist if we succeed in annihilating ourselves. At least the insects will: a cockroach, for example, can survive radiation from a nuclear blast, no problem. And I continue to think that some sort of distinction can usefully be made, perhaps along the lines of Neocon's Nature/Culture divide, between man himself and his works.
2) There is no such thing as "an ecological balance."
Why bother telling me that? As I said, I was only speculating about what I thought people versed in ecological matters would say. You had better tell them, because they persist in spreading the falsehood that there is such a thing as ecological balance (following citations picked at random):
THE HUANG-HUAl-HAl PLAIN, an important agricultural region, is the largest alluvial plain in China.......The proposed south-to-north water transfer is a major engineering measure aimed at solving the problems of industrial and agricultural water use in the HuangHuai-Hai Plain. If this vast project is not done properly, it will disrupt the existing ecological balance and cause the ecosystem to deteriorate. It is therefore imperative to study with great care the possible effects of the various water transfer proposals on the ecosystem of the plain in the predesign and design stages of the project.
unu.edu
The Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act (ACT) was signed into law on December 15, 1971....The ACT clearly defines the ecological role of wild horses and burros on federal lands. Wild horse and burro populations are to be managed in a manner that will, "achieve a thriving natural ecological balance."
state.nv.us
Conceived, as the author explains (xii), as a more specifically focussed examination of the environmental impact of ancient civilizations upon thenatural ecological balance which he began in an earlier work,[[1]] the book incorporates much of Hughes's ongoing investigations published in journals and essay collections from disciplines as diverse as religion, forestry, archaeology, and
environmental studies proper.
cpsr.org
Yakutia's mining industry has damaged the structure and function of both marine and terrestrial ecosystems by decreasing their productivity and impoverishing their biological diversity. Of particular concern are 1) the Vilui River basin, with its well-developed diamond and gas extraction industry, 2) the
Yana-Indigirka industrial region, where there is intensive gold and tin mining, and 3) Southern Yakutia, which is a center for coal, gold, and other minerals. Inefficient utilization of agricultural lands has led to a decline in the lichen that naturally grows on northern tundra and destroyed the many alas lake ecosystems in Central Yakutia. Because Yakutia occupies a significant portion of northeastern Russia with various landscapes (arctic deserts, tundra, taiga, mountain systems, steppes, river basins, and numerous lakes), the territory is of vital significance in preserving the ecological balance in Eurasia.
spri.cam.ac.uk
The northern coastline of Java, with its deltas growing into the Java Sea, built from the high sediment load of its rivers, is a highly dynamic one. This is one of the causes of silting of the inlets and outlets of the tambak, which affects directly the fish and shrimp production and thus the socio-economic conditions of the local population. It has been shown also that the insecticides and fertilizers washed from the rice fields into the tambak and the invasion of fish fry and shrimp predators are other factors which influence the delicate ecological balance of the tambak system.
unu.edu
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