Human Ecology: Contemporary Research and Practice

ISBN-13: 9781461415145 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 377 str.

Daniel G Bates

Opis

This book arose from the need to develop accessible research-based case study material which addresses contemporary issues and problems in the rapidly evolving field of human ecology. Academic, political, and, indeed, public interest in the environmental sciences is on the rise. This is no doubt spurred by media coverage of climate change and global warming and attendant natural disasters such as unusual drought and flood conditions, toxic dust storms, pollution of air and water, and the like. But there is also a growing intellectual awareness of the social causes of anthropogenic environmental impacts, political vectors in determining conser- tion outcomes, and the role of local representations of ecological knowledge in resource management and sustainable yield production. This is reflected in the rapid increase of ecology courses being taught at leading universities in the fa- growing developing countries much as was the case a decade or two ago in Europe and North America. The research presented here is all taken from recent issues of Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Since the journal itself is a leading forum for cont- porary research, the articles we have selected represent a cross-section of work which brings the perspectives of human ecology to bear on current problems being faced around the world. The chapters are organized in such a way to facilitate the use of this volume either to teach a course or to introduce an informed reader to the field.

Spis treści

Part 1: Philosophy, Theory, and Methods. There is no Mother Nature. Biocultural diversity. Causal explanations for forest fires, Indonesia. Knowledge & conservation practices. Levy flights. Fire, Senegal. LEK, Australia. Catch 22 conservation/LEK. Learning in the Pacific Northwest. Mediterranean landscapes. Mediterranean landscapes. Historical human ecology. Tobacco cultivation, West Honduras.- Part 2: Changing Subsistence Patterns. Gitksan landscapes. Without pigs in New Guinea. Ecology of rushes, Turkey. Agropastoralists, Siberia. Irrigation in Northern Spain. Pastoral production in Northern Kenya. Pastoral sedentarization & children’s diet & health, N. Kenya. Impact of the ivory trade in E. Africa. Animal acquisition & herd demography, Turkana. Pastoralist response to flood plain rehab., Cameroon. Aboriginal hunting, Western desert, Australia. Hunter-gatherer gardens, West Panama. Foraging in the Congo Basin. Bedouin tourist stations as response to drought. 1000 years in the Pacific Basin.- Part 3: Agricultural Intensification/Population Pressure. New Guinea populations. Boserup revisited. Maya Biosphere. Matrilineal fertility, China (social aspects of population dynamics). Agricultural intensification, Central Europe. Invasive species, South Africa. Climate change & warfare, China. Sustainability, agricultural development & LEK, Central America. Ecology of increasing diseases. Agricultural intensification & population growth, Amazon.- Part 4: Common Property Resources/Conservation. Clearcutting Maine. Andean irrigation. Borneo forests. Common property regimes, Ecuador. Hardin Revisited. Mali burning mosaic. Common property among the Tamir, Siberia. Forest conservation, Kalimantan. Fire use in South America. Fire Policy, Alaska. Coastal resource management. Families and firewood, sub-Saharan Africa. Rangelands as common property, South Africa. Private and communal forests, Guatemala. Glossary.

O autorze

Daniel Bates is the editor-in-chief of the journal Human Ecology.

Blurb

This comprehensive sourcebook on human ecology combines 25 source articles published in the journal Human Ecology, enhanced with new research updates and thematic commentary. Intended as a follow up to Case Studies in Human Ecology, this volume includes an entirely new group of articles, with the same accessible, comprehensive coverage that made Case Studies so popular.

Human Ecology: Research and Practice covers four important areas: Philosophy, Theory and Methods; Changing Subsistence Practices; Agricultural Intensification and Population Dynamics; and, Common Property Resources and Conservation. As a group, these articles represent the major contributions to the study of Human Ecology since the publication of the previous volume.

Each article includes a concise introduction by the Editor, giving necessary and thoughtful context. The volume covers an overview of human ecology as a field within environmental studies, new directions in contemporary research, new methods and techniques, and cultural landscapes. Anyone studying human ecology, environmental studies, landscape studies, or population dynamics, particularly key issues such as conservation and globalization will find this comprehensive reader a valuable resource.