Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports into AmericaUniv of South Carolina Press, 15 жовт. 2012 р. - 248 стор. A fresh look at the origins of our iconic immigrant flora and fauna, revealed with wit and reverence for nature Aliens live among us. Thousands of species of nonnative flora and fauna have taken up residence within U.S. borders. Our lawns sprout African grasses, our roadsides flower with European weeds, and our homes harbor Asian, European, and African pests. Misguided enthusiasts deliberately introduced carp, kudzu, and starlings. And the American cowboy spread such alien life forms as cows, horses, tumbleweed, and anthrax, supplanting and supplementing the often unexpected ways "Native" Americans influenced the environment. Aliens in the Backyard recounts the origins and impacts of these and other nonindigenous species on our environment and pays overdue tribute to the resolve of nature to survive in the face of challenge and change. In considering the new home that imported species have made for themselves on the continent, John Leland departs from those environmentalists who universally decry the invasion of outsiders. Instead Leland finds that uncovering stories of alien arrivals and assimilation is a more intriguing—and ultimately more beneficial—endeavor. Mixing natural history with engaging anecdotes, Leland cuts through problematic myths coloring our grasp of the natural world and suggests that how these alien species have reshaped our landscape is now as much a part of our shared heritage as tales of our presidents and politics. Simultaneously he poses questions about which of our accepted icons are truly American (not apple pie or Kentucky bluegrass; not Idaho potatoes or Boston ivy). Leland's ode to survival reveals how plant and animal immigrants have made the country as much an environmental melting pot as its famed melding of human cultures, and he invites us to reconsider what it means to be American. |
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... Indians: Less Native Than You Think An Entangled Bank: Roadside Weeds House Pests: Some of Those Who Share Your Quarters It Seemed a Good Idea at the Time: The WellIntentioned Ecological Disaster Misplaced Americans: As Rootless as the ...
... Indian tribes A gourd used as a purple martin nest A wild carrot A common, or broadleafed, plantain German cockroaches and an Oriental cockroach An American cockroach, or palmetto bug A black rat A brown rat Two mice A carp, along with ...
... Indian before Columbus graze a horse on Kentucky bluegrass, eat an Idaho potato, see Boston ivy growing, get stung by a honeybee, or use a night crawler to catch a brown trout—because none of these was here back then. Of course, the ...
... Indians called plantain the white man's plant and the honeybee the white man's fly. American revolutionaries called a European gnat the Hessian fly; Dakotans called tumbleweed Russian weed. Long Island fishermen in the 1950s labeled a ...
... Indians” investigates the oftenunexpected role Native Americans played in reshaping our natural environment and in eliminating old species and introducing new species to the continent. “A Green Nightmare” looks at the species involved ...
Зміст
What Grandmother Grew in Her Backyard | |
Malarias Gifts to America | |
Older Than You Think | |
And Their Alien Habits | |
Less Native Than You Think | |
Roadside Weeds | |
Some of Those Who Share Your Quarters | |
The WellIntentioned Ecological | |
As Rootless as the Humans Who Invited Them | |
An Unnatural Pastime | |
Index | |
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Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports Into America John Leland Попередній перегляд недоступний - 2005 |
Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports Into America John Leland Попередній перегляд недоступний - 2005 |