From coastal wilderness to fruited plain : a history of environmental change in temperate North America, 1500 to the present
"From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain is an account of the making of a large part of the American landscape following European settlement. Drawing upon land surveys records and early travelers' accounts, Dr Whitney reconstructs the 'virgin' forests and grasslands of the northeastern and central United States during the presettlement period. He then documents successively 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, climate, flora, fauna and water cycles of the region, and in the process gave rise to modern forest, farm and urban ecosystems, forms the core of the book. This well-illustrated and referenced work should be of interest to all those concerned about the sustainability of ecosystems, and the imprint of the past on the contemporary landscape."--Jacket
History
xxxiv, 451 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
9780521394529, 9780521576581, 052139452X, 052157658X
28632556
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.