From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain: A History of Environmental Change in Temperate North America from 1500 to the Present

ISBN-13: 9780521576581 / Angielski / Miękka / 1996 / 488 str.

Gordon G. Whitney

Opis

From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain is an account of the making of the American landscape following European settlement. It starts with "virgin" forests and grasslands of the central and northeastern United States, and successively documents the clearance and fragmentation of the region's woodlands, the harvest of the forest and its game, the plowing of prairies and the draining of wetlands. The Native American, the trapper, the farmer and the lumberman all benefited from the land and its resources; the degree to which their activities altered the soil, the climate, the natural plant and animal communities, and the water cycle is examined here.

Recenzje

'Scholarship shines forth … whether the interest is in North America, comparative regional studies or approaches to studying forest landscapes, this volume will be a source of insight, entertainment and academic inspiration.' Trends in Ecology and Evolution

Spis treści

List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Conversion of English to metric units; US state abbreviations; Common and scientific names of trees mentioned in the text; Photographic essay illustrating the character and the demise of the pre-settlement vegetation of the Northeast and the Midwest; 1. Introduction; 2. Reconstructing the past; 3. Nature imposes …; 4. The forest primeval; 5. Preservers of the ecological balance wheel; 6. European precedents; 7. Assault upon the forest, part I: the farmer; 8. Assault upon the forest, part II: the lumber industry; 9. Assault upon the forest, part III: fuel-wood; 10. Predatory agriculture; 11. Grassland agriculture; 12. Forest influences; 13. A transported flora; 14. An impoverished fauna; 15. The legislated landscape; 16. Conclusion; References; Index.