1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910457604303321

Autore

Coates Peter A. <1957->

Titolo

American perceptions of immigrant and invasive species [[electronic resource] ] : strangers on the land / / Peter A. Coates

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, 2007

ISBN

1-282-75950-7

9786612759505

0-520-93325-7

1-4337-0003-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (257 p.)

Disciplina

333.95/230973

Soggetti

Introduced organisms - United States - History

Biology

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Strangers and Natives -- 2. The Avian Conquest of a Continent -- 3. Plants, Insects, and Other Strangers to the Soil -- 4. Arboreal Immigrants -- 5. The Nature of Alien Nation -- NOTES -- INDEX

Sommario/riassunto

Sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose, humans have transported plants and animals to new habitats around the world. Arriving in ever-increasing numbers to American soil, recent invaders have competed with, preyed on, hybridized with, and carried diseases to native species, transforming our ecosystems and creating anxiety among environmentalists and the general public. But is American anxiety over this crisis of ecological identity a recent phenomenon? Charting shifting attitudes to alien species since the 1850's, Peter Coates brings to light the rich cultural and historical aspects of this story by situating the history of immigrant flora and fauna within the wider context of human immigration. Through an illuminating series of particular invasions, including the English sparrow and the eucalyptus tree, what he finds is that we have always perceived plants and animals in relation to ourselves and the polities to which we belong. Setting the



saga of human relations with the environment in the broad context of scientific, social, and cultural history, this thought-provoking book demonstrates how profoundly notions of nationality and debates over race and immigration have shaped American understandings of the natural world.