Book Description
When Europeans first reached the land that would become the United States they were staggered by the breadth and density of the forest they found. The existence of that forest, and the effort either to use or subdue it, have been constant themes in American history, literature, economics, and geography up to the meaning of the forest in American history and culture, he describes and analyzes the clearing and use of the forest from pre-European times to the present, and he traces the subsequent regrowth of the forest since the middle of the twentieth century. Dr Williams begins by exploring the role of the forest in American culture: the symbols, themes, and concepts - for example, pioneer woodsman, lumberjack, wilderness - generated by contact with the vast land of trees. He considers the Indian use of the forest, describing the ways in which native tribes altered it, primarily through fire, to promote a subsistence economy. Early European settlers, he shows, extracted many products from the forest, and also began the extensive clearance of trees that would continue for almost three hundred years. Succeeding chapters, organized by topic and region, cover agricultural and industrial effects upon and uses of the forest. Dr Williams explores the rise (and often fall) of industries based upon forest products: naval stores, timber for building, charcoal and the iron industry, the railroads. Attention is devoted to the forests of the Middle West, the South, and the Pacific Northwest. By the late nineteenth century Americans began to realize that the forest was not boundless and moved to preserve those portions, still extensive, that remained. In the wake of the movement for preservation, Dr Williams describes how the forest began to regrow, especially after 1950, in areas where it had originally been vigorous and healthy, a development that continues today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A landmark text
This is one of the classics of American environmental history, sitting on the high shelf with Stilgoe's "Common Landscapes of America", Pyne's "Fire in America", Cronon's "Changes in the Land" and "Nature's Metropolis", and Reisner's "Cadillac Desert".

Williams does a masterful job of pulling together social and economic sources (including much primary material) to present a wholly original view of American history.For thousands of years people have shaped the forests of North America, and in subtle ways the forests have shaped us.However, forest history has long been hidden behind the curtain of political events that constitute the official record of "history", aided by the amazing shortness of human memory.Williams brings forest history (and environmental history in general) back into the light with a lucid account of forest history at the scale of the whole nation.

He dusts off long-forgotten sets of nineteenth and twentieth century statistics, and summarizes them in easily comprehended graphs and maps to make the point that the forest resource played an important role in population expansion across North America, in the evolution of our governmental structure, and in development of modern technologies.To the forest ecologist, he says 'Much of the forest you are looking at today is simply an artifact of human intervention in the past'.

Like all works which attempt to convey a long view of history, A&TF becomes a bit vague as it approaches modern day.The owls vs. jobs controversy of the Pacific Northwest is not mentioned, nor are the regrowth of eastern forests and exurban sprawl given the space they deserve.Nevertheless, the accounts of events in the 17th - mid-20th century are excellent, and highly relevant considering we are still dealing with their aftermath.

A history book on forests
Many old pictures tell you the truth. A lot of tables include information of the past. foresters must own this book. ... Read more

Book Description
Throughout much of human history, changes to forest ecosystems have come about through natural climatic changes occurring over long periods of time. But scientists now find changes in forest cover dramatically accelerated by such human activities as large-scale agriculture, the building of dams and roads, and the growth of cities with vast areas of asphalt. Changes that once took centuries now take only decades. Seeing the Forest and the Trees examines changes in land cover and land use in forested regions as major contributors to global environmental change. It investigates why some forested areas thrive even in the presence of high human densities and activity while others decline and disappear.

The book brings together findings from an ongoing, large-scale, multidisciplinary research project undertaken by anthropologists, geographers, economists, sociologists, political scientists, environmental scientists, and biologists in more than twelve countries at over eighty locations. After addressing theory and methodology, including chapters on satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems, and modeling of land-cover change, the book presents case studies that compare data across sites and across temporal and spatial scales. It contributes to Human Dimensions in Global Change research and proposes new directions for this area of study. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The second growth club
What people do is behind the build-up of earth-warming gases. For example, carbon dioxide builds up from people using fossil fuels and cutting down tropical forests. Methane builds up from people raising so many animals and so much irrigated rice. These gases change climate. Changed climate means changed air and water, changed farming, and changed life.

In these cases, people change land cover by changing land use. Is it surprising that changing forest cover is so serious? Trees are homes to plants, people, bugs, birds and animals. They keep us all breathing, by adding oxygen to the air. They make sure there's carbon, what with green things growing old and dying. They make sure there's water by getting rainfall into the ground and the water table. They make sure water levels stay about the same in streams and stop soil erosion on stream banks.

Land cover always changes. But that used to be part of natural climate changes taking place over a long time. What's different now is fast-paced land clearing for grazing, farming, and building dams, roads and suburbs. Some forests grow back. Others not.

Natural scientists were the first squeaky wheels about the role of people in all this. They couldn't come up with solutions, on their own, to problem changes in air and weather. They needed the help of social scientists. For everywhere natural scientists were SEEING THE FOREST AND THE TREES they were also seeing HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS.

Editors Emilio F Moran and Elinor Ostrom, along with their contributing writers, all agree the future of forests, forest livers, and people depends on natural and social scientists working together. The problems of the forest, and of the quality of life on earth, have nature and people aspects. But our educational system gets in the way of this kind of problem-solving. From elementary schools all the way through universities, the natural and social sciences are kept apart. That can change, with enough time, goodwill and effort, say the editors and writers. And the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change at Indiana University sets a fine example.

This well-indexed book has helpful tables, photographs and figures. It ends with a good glossary and an up-to-date set of references. The editors say they're writing for university and university-level research settings. The style and wording can be academic. But the problems and problem-solving go with clear graphics, examples and conclusions. So readers should catch all the fine points of what Virginia Tech master gardeners call that most important wildlands-urban interface. ... Read more

Book Description
Unplanned deforestation, which is occurring at unsustainable rates in many parts of the world, can cause significant hardships for rural communities by destroying critical stocks of fuel, fodder, food, and building materials. It can also have profound regional and global consequences by contributing to biodiversity loss, erosion, floods, lowered water tables, and climate change.

People and Forests explores the complex interactions between local communities and their forests. It focuses on the rules by which communities govern and manage their forest resources. As part of the International Forestry Resources and Institutions research program, each of the contributors employs the same systematic, comparative, and interdisciplinary methods to examine why some people use their forests sustainably while others do not. The case studies come from fieldwork in Bolivia, Ecuador, India, Nepal, and Uganda.

People and Forests offers policymakers a sophisticated view of local forest management from which to develop policy options and offers biophysical and social scientists a better understanding of the linkages between residents, local institutions, and forests.

Contributors:
Arun Agrawal, Abwoli Y. Banana, C. Dustin Becker, Clark C. Gibson, William Gombya-Ssembajjwe, Rosario Leon, Margaret A. McKean, Elinor Ostrom, Charles M. Schweik, George Varughese, Mary Beth Wertime. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good editors, frustrating contributors
Like most edited books, this one shows every sign of editors valiantly trying to get the authors onto the same page, while the authors ignore (or actively resist) their suggestions.Having edited a book myself, I'm all too familiar with the pattern - - and I side with the editors.

The editors present a common framework focusing on the importance of (mostly local) institutions in explaining successful and unsuccessful forest management in developing countries.It's not as strong as a real theory would be, but it's useful enough as a unifier for a collection of hypotheses that Ostrom draws out in her conclusion.About half of the chapters - - those written by one of the editors - - use the framework in a serious way, while the other half don't.The editors' chapters address larger issues about local management of common pool resources, while the other chapters tend to be largely descriptive case studies of local problems.

Both editors and contributors are part of an intellectual community that's interested in successful management of environmental problems (such as common pool resources) at the local level.It's an important topic, but it encourages the worst kind of case study research.All too often, research involves going off to a study site chosen for practical reasons such as language skills, local contacts, or government permission.Analytical questions get pushed off to the side, and I'm afraid that's true of many chapters here too.

In short: read it for the editors, whose chapters provide interesting analyses of local solutions to forest management problems.
... Read more

Book Description
Successful remote sensing methods and applications are rooted in the science, art, and technology of earth observation, part of the larger emerging world of geographical information science. Sensors are increasingly sensitive to the phenomena we wish to observe and image analysis systems are increasingly able to transform the data and deliver the required information. At the same time, advances in forest science and management continue to develop momentum. A renewed commitment to understanding forests at different scales and with a process-based perspective has helped generate demand for information about forests that is feasibly acquired only by remote sensing.

Remote Sensing of Forest Environments: Concepts and Case Studies is an edited volume intended to provide readers with a state-of-the-art synopsis of the current methods and applied applications employed in remote sensing the world's forests. The contributing authors have sought to illustrate and deepen our understanding of remote sensing of forests, providing new insights and indicating opportunities that are created when forests and forest practices are considered in concert with the evolving paradigm of remote sensing science. Following background and methods sections, this book introduces a series of case studies that exemplify the ways in which remotely sensed data are operationally used, as an element of the decision-making process, and in the scientific study of forests.

Book Description
Taking a unique anthropological approach, the contributors explore the management of resources in Third World development programmes, focusing on the role of human cultural imagination in the use of environmental resources. ... Read more

Book Description

Until now, there have been few research works on Cambodian forests because of the long period of civil war, restricting forest researchers and surveyors in the area. This book presents many new topics of research in forests such as those of Cambodia, unavailable until now. One of the most attractive features of the volume is that it fills the gaps in data about the worlds forests. The book consists of three parts: forest hydrology, forest management, and forest ecology, designed to provide an understanding of continental river basins. Contained here are the latest data derived from advanced observation systems for atmospheric flux, ground water level, soil water movement, and stable isotope variation as well as remote sensing, which are used for continuous measurements of forest environments. These research results provide a bounty of fresh scientific information, creating a valuable resource not only for researchers and university students but also for forest administrators.

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Forest Ecology and Management, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The purpose of our study was to examine whether the degree of ectomycorrhizal (EM) colonization was associated with amount of shade for potted seedlings of five rain forest tree species. Seedlings were exposed to a range of shade treatments-from the open to that emulating the degree of shade beneath a deep-canopied forest. The experiment was carried out at the field station (580 m.a.s.l) of the Sinharaja World Heritage Site in southwestern Sri Lanka. We selected five species for the study: Shorea affinis (Thw.) Ashton, S. congestiflora (Thw.) Ashton, S. cordifolia (Thw.) Ashton, S. gardneri (Thw.) Ashton, and S. zeylanica (Thw.) Ashton, all members of a sympatric clade of endemic canopy trees in the family dipterocarpaceae. Results show that the percentage EM colonization was significantly different among shade treatments, for all five species (p < 0.05). However, EM root colonization was not significantly different among species. Highest percentages of EM colonization for all species, except for S. congestiflora, were in treatments providing full open conditions. However, seedling growth of all species were best under partial shade conditions (p < 0.05), intermediate between the deep shade of a forest understory and no shade of open environments. The non-linear relationship between seedling growth performance and EM colonization is discussed. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on July 31, 2003. The length of the article is 1409 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A 'miracle' in the forest.(Environment)
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: July 31, 2003
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: a1

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by Thomson Gale on September 27, 2006. The length of the article is 1084 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Program encourages planting forests.(Environment)(The Forestry Department is trying to make tree planting attractive to landowners)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: September 27, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: b1

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more