Prehis Native Americans Ecl Change: Human Ecosystems in Eastern North America since the Pleistocene - Softcover

Delcourt, Paul A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521050766 ISBN 13: 9780521050760

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

'... the book is a welcome addition to the study on human ecosystems in prehistoric times ... [it] merits attention as an important study in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology.' International Studies

Book Description:

Prehistoric Native Americans and Ecological Change demonstrates the importance of prehistoric human activities in the ecology of eastern North America, and as such has important implications for conservation biology, forest management and ecological restoration today.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0521050766
• ISBN 13: 9780521050760
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216