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. |
З цієї книги
Результати 1-5 із 18
... percent of America's threatened or endangered natives are victims of introduced biota. Some places are worse off than others. Exotics have overwhelmed Hawaii, an isolated island that is home to a highly indigenous flora and fauna. Many ...
... percent of all plants in many of our states originating from other lands. Even those forests sporting madeinAmerica trees, like southern pine plantations, are probably growing where no such trees grew before commercial forestry took ...
... and capable of surviving snowy winters and wiggling overland into other ponds and rivers. If just what is and isn't native seems problematic, so too does the nature of “invasiveness.” Since 30 percent of all the plant.
... percent of all the plant species in my home area in Virginia are nonindigenous, odds are that many of the plants I walk by every day are as unnatural inhabitants of the area as am I. Yet, I notice only some of these, the ones that ...
... percent pure olive oil with sesame oil. All accounts agree that Africans introduced sesame into America, and that it took hold first in South Carolina, where an estimated 40 percent of all slaves were imported. By 1730, South Carolina ...
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 | |
Інші видання - Показати все
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 |