Prehistoric Native Americans and Ecological Change
Prehistoric Native Americans and Ecological Change

Author: Paul A. Delcourt

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2004-07-29

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 0521662702

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This book shows that Holocene human ecosystems are complex adaptive systems in which humans interacted with their environment in a nested series of spatial and temporal scales. Using panarchy theory, it integrates paleoecological and archaeological research from the Eastern Woodlands of North America providing a paradigm to help resolve long-standing disagreements between ecologists and archaeologists about the importance of prehistoric Native Americans as agents for ecological change. The authors present the concept of a panarchy of complex adaptive cycles as applied to the development of increasingly complex human ecosystems through time. They explore examples of ecological interactions at the level of gene, population, community, landscape and regional hierarchical scales, emphasizing the ecological pattern and process involving the development of human ecosystems. Finally, they offer a perspective on the implications of the legacy of Native Americans as agents of change for conservation and ecological restoration efforts today.

Ecological Indian
Ecological Indian

Author: Shepard Krech

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 9780393321005

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Krech (anthropology, Brown U.) treats such provocative issues as whether the Eden in which Native Americans are viewed as living prior to European contact was a feature of native environmentalism or simply low population density; indigenous use of fire; and the Indian role in near-extinctions of buffalo, deer, and beaver. He concludes that early Indians' culturally-mediated closeness with nature was not always congruent with modern conservation ideas, with implications for views of, and by, contemporary Indians. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States
Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States

Author: Julie Koppel Maldonado

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-04-05

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 3319052667

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With a long history and deep connection to the Earth’s resources, indigenous peoples have an intimate understanding and ability to observe the impacts linked to climate change. Traditional ecological knowledge and tribal experience play a key role in developing future scientific solutions for adaptation to the impacts. The book explores climate-related issues for indigenous communities in the United States, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and relocation. The book also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. Fifty authors from tribal communities, academia, government agencies and NGOs contributed to the book. Previously published in Climatic Change, Volume 120, Issue 3, 2013.

Humans and the Environment
Humans and the Environment

Author: Matthew I. J. Davies

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-06-27

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0191626015

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The environment has always been a central concept for archaeologists and, although it has been conceived in many ways, its role in archaeological explanation has fluctuated from a mere backdrop to human action, to a primary factor in the understanding of society and social change. Archaeology also has a unique position as its base of interest places it temporally between geological and ethnographic timescales, spatially between global and local dimensions, and epistemologically between empirical studies of environmental change and more heuristic studies of cultural practice. Drawing on data from across the globe at a variety of temporal and spatial scales, this volume resituates the way in which archaeologists use and apply the concept of the environment. Each chapter critically explores the potential for archaeological data and practice to contribute to modern environmental issues, including problems of climate change and environmental degradation. Overall the volume covers four basic themes: archaeological approaches to the way in which both scientists and locals conceive of the relationship between humans and their environment, applied environmental archaeology, the archaeology of disaster, and new interdisciplinary directions.The volume will be of interest to students and established archaeologists, as well as practitioners from a range of applied disciplines.

American Environmental History
American Environmental History

Author: Carolyn Merchant

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 505

ISBN-13: 0231140355

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By studying the many ways diverse peoples have changed, shaped, and conserved the natural world over time, environmental historians provide insight into humanity's unique relationship with nature and, more importantly, are better able to understand the origins of our current environmental crisis. Beginning with the precolonial land-use practice of Native Americans and concluding with our twenty-first century concerns over our global ecological crisis, American Environmental History addresses contentious issues such as the preservation of the wilderness, the expulsion of native peoples from national parks, and population growth, and considers the formative forces of gender, race, and class. Entries address a range of topics, from the impact of rice cultivation, slavery, and the growth of the automobile suburb to the effects of the Russian sea otter trade, Columbia River salmon fisheries, the environmental justice movement, and globalization. This illustrated reference is an essential companion for students interested in the ongoing transformation of the American landscape and the conflicts over its resources and conservation. It makes rich use of the tools and resources (climatic and geological data, court records, archaeological digs, and the writings of naturalists) that environmental historians rely on to conduct their research. The volume also includes a compendium of significant people, concepts, events, agencies, and legislation, and an extensive bibliography of critical films, books, and Web sites.

Apalachicola
Apalachicola

Author: H. Thomas Foster II

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-03-02

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 1000545253

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This book is a synthesis of research spanning archaeology, geology, geography, history, ecology, and ethnography. It follows the history of the Apalachicola people who contributed to the culture that was later called the Creek Indians in the Southeastern United States. Apalachicola is the origin story of the Creek Indians and how they adapted to a changing environment and shows that specific institutions, subsistence strategies, and social organizations developed as a risk management strategy and a form of resilience. It is unique in its comprehensive and long-term study of a community. It identifies and demonstrates a new way of understanding the development of political institutions and regime change. Incorporating the role of social groups that are under discussed by archaeological studies, the book offers a new and novel understanding of the development of complex societies in the Southeastern United States. It also includes a holistic view of the entire social and economic organizations rather than just an aspect of the economy or politics and shows how this culture developed a society that dealt with an unpredictable environment by distributing risks, knowledge, and authority throughout the society. The social and political organization of these Native American peoples was adapted to a particular environment that was altered when Europeans immigrated to the Americas. The book is relevant to scholars interested in Southeastern North American archaeology and history, ecological resilience, political change, colonialism, gender studies, ecology, and more.

Forest Policy and Governance in the United States
Forest Policy and Governance in the United States

Author: Jesse Abrams

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-12-08

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1000801659

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This new textbook provides an up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to both the policy background and contemporary governance of forests in the United States. Starting with a history of the development of forest policies and conservation agencies, the book then explores the diversity of forest owners, users, and uses and examines emerging approaches to forest governance that cross traditional jurisdictional and property boundaries. It tackles key contemporary issues such as the forest water nexus, the conservation of threatened and endangered species, and the challenges of managing fire, insect, and disease dynamics under a changing climate. Key focal areas include the emergence of collaborative approaches to forest governance, community forest relationships, changes to corporate timberland ownership, and contemporary governance mechanisms such as certification and payments for ecosystem services. This text raises the "big questions" about the distribution of rights and responsibilities in forest management, the tensions between equity and efficiency, and how to sustain a diversity of forest values under the pressures of ecological and social complexity. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, this textbook provides a timely synthesis of both the foundations and current trends and issues in forest policy and governance in the United States with a strong emphasis on illustrative real-world cases. Forest Policy and Governance in the United States is essential reading for students in forest and natural resource policy courses and will be of great use to students in environmental governance courses. It will also be of interest to policymakers and professionals working in forest conservation and in the forest industry.

The Pecan
The Pecan

Author: James McWilliams

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2013-10-01

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 0292749163

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Traces the historical and cultural paths of the pecan, while weaving American history, agricultural history, and science into the story.

Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution
Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution

Author: Thomas N. Sherratt

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009-02-19

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 0199548609

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This book provides an introduction to a range of fundamental questions that have taxed evolutionary biologists and ecologists for decades. All of the questions posed have at least a partial solution, all have seen exciting breakthroughs in recent years, yet many of the explanations have been hotly debated.

Beyond Collapse
Beyond Collapse

Author: Ronald K. Faulseit

Publisher: SIU Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 553

ISBN-13: 0809333996

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This book interprets how ancient civilizations responded to various stresses, including environmental change, warfare, and the fragmentation of political institutions. It focuses on what happened during and after the decline of once powerful regimes, and posits that they experienced social resilience and transformation instead of collapse.