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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... seeds and Jerusalem artichokes in our groceries can boast American roots. The chickens and their eggs, the cattle, and the pigs we eat are from the Old World. While the rainbow trout or bass that was either just caught or ordered did ...
... seed. Its invasive nature has given rise to several metaphors. In Virginia, where Kentucky bluegrass is the preferred lawn grass, Bermuda grass is cursed as “devil” or “wire grass” for its tenacity, ubiquity, and profligacy. Even more ...
... seeds superficially resembling corn, while Means's guinea grass is Sorghum halepense, whose splayed out seed head betrays its grassy nature. Just to confuse things all the more, a fellow lookalike from Africa, Panicum maximum, is also ...
... seed. In 1873 the American consul in Jamaica obtained seed that congressmen then used for a massive free mailing of seed samples, thus spreading both goodwill and bad seeds throughout their constituencies. Extremely sensitive to frost ...
... weeds of American cotton fields. First noticed in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1980, wild okra apparently descended from cultivated okra that sharecroppers planted alternately with cotton. The latter's seeds remain dormant.
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 |