"Plant Transfers in Historical Perspective: A Review Article"
This paper explores some routes into the history of plant transfers, especially during the period of European imperialism.
Aliases:
plants
"Appraising Soil Fertility in Early Colonial New Zealand: The 'Biometric Fallacy' and Beyond"
During the 1840s, the biometric approach to soil fertility appraisal was found to be a false one, and was replaced by a developing ecological one, which relied on specific plant indicators of soil fertility.
"Frontier Foods for Late Medieval Consumers: Culture, Economy, Ecology"
This essay considers medieval long distance trades in grain, cattle, and preserved fish as antecedents to today’s globalised movements of foodstuffs.
"Bamboo, Rats and Famines: Famine Relief and Perceptions of British Paternalism in the Mizo Hills (India)"
As the British entered the Mizo hills (part of the Indo-Burmese range of hills, then known as the Lushai hills) to chase the headhunting tribal raiders and try to gain control over them by securing a foothold in the heart of the hills at Aizawl, they witnessed an amazing ecological phenomenon: a severe famine apparently caused by rats.
"The Politics of Conservation in France in the 19th Century"
Matagne examines French conservation policies in the 19th century with reference to three important issues: i) the protection of landscapes; ii) the protection of animal and vegetable species; and iii) nature conservation in the colonies.
"Kafka in the Forest: A Personal Note on Monga Forest and Contemporary History in New South Wales"
After some years of absence, I found myself again active in the Australian conservation movement. A forest was to be razed, not far from where this is being written, for a relatively small yield of saw-planks…
"European Farming, Australian Pests: Agricultural Settlement and Environmental Disruption in Australia, 1800–1920"
In this article, which considers the settlement of the high-rainfall forests of Eastern Australia, it is argued that the main pests were indigenous not exotic.
"Degrading Land: An Environmental History Perspective of the Cape Verde Islands"
This paper discusses changes in land and vegetation cover and natural resources of the Cape Verde Islands since their colonisation by the Portuguese around 1460.
"Man and the Natural World: Reflections on History and Anthropology"
The efforts of both anthropologists and historians have been weakened by a failure to take into account what the other half were doing…
"Past Environments through Palynology: A Short Appraisal with Reference to the Western Ghats"
The science of palynology has proved to be a good tool to reconstruct the past, to build up archaeological scenarios and to record climatic changes during the Holocene period. However, the terms employed to denote climate, like arid and humid, are often used without proper definitions, ignoring intricacies of climate…