As the depredation of the planet's greatest storehouse of biodiversity-the Amazon region-continues apace, it is vitally important to understand the implications of the immense devastation the area has undergone. Describing the stunning diversity of plant an animal life found in and along the rivers, and showing how this wealth is being plundered, Floods of Fortune offers the first holistic view of the conservation drama unfolding in the Amazonian floodplain. Enriched with nearly 100 beautiful and arrested color photographs as well as an investigation of the cultural history of the...

The Amazon Basin's rivers, estuaries and tributaries are home to as many as 1000 species of catfish. In this work, two scientists offer a natural history of the Amazon giant catfish and its central place as a source of food and income within the ecology and economy of the Amazon Basin. While focusing primarily on two species of giant catfish - known locally as Dourada and Piramutaba - the authors also present illustrated accounts of 13 distinct large fish. Their research yields strong statistical data and field observations that illustrate the catfishes' extensive migratory range and presents...

The southwestern Amazon basin, centering on the Territory of Rondonia and the State of Acre, is symbolically if not exactly geographically, the Wild Wild West of Brazil's northern rainforest fron tier. In Brazil the name Rondonia evokes exaggerated images of lawlessness, land feuding, and indigent peasants in search of a homestead. Despite the problems and the perception, the region has pushed ahead, in the view of the govern ment, with large-scale deforestation and the establishment of cattle ranches and agricultural farms raising manioc, rice, bananas, and other cash crops. The mining...