Investing & harvesting

The waste absorption capacity of a given eco-system is the measure of the covenantal relationship on which the ecology of the system is based. 

The covenantal relationship is relatively fixed, which is why it can serve as the basis of the eco-system. That covenantal relationship is complicated by the processes of investing and of harvesting across the covenantal line, which means the covenantal relationship is not only about what happens behind those lines according to the mishpatim of each covenantal partner but also what happens across the covenantal line according to the chuqim that define the lines of reverence and intercourse between the covenantal partners. 

Man can grow more trees or cut them down, he can husband his livestock or abuse them, he can fertilize the land or deplete it.