1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910465566203321

Autore

Reid Robin Spencer

Titolo

Savannas of our birth [[electronic resource] ] : people, wildlife, and change in East Africa / / Robin S. Reid

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, 2012

ISBN

1-283-54319-2

9786613855640

0-520-95407-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (411 p.)

Disciplina

577.4/80967

Soggetti

Savanna ecology - Africa, East

Land use - Environmental aspects - Africa, East

Pastoral systems - Environmental aspects - Africa, East

Savannas - Africa, East

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- Chapter One. Searching for the Middle Ground -- Chapter Two. Savannas of Our Birth -- Chapter Three. Pastoral People, Livestock, and Wildlife -- Chapter Four. Moving Continents, Varying Climate, and Abundant Wildlife: Drivers of Human Evolution? -- Chapter Five. Ecosystem Engineers Come of Age -- Chapter Six. Can Pastoral People and Livestock Enrich Savanna Landscapes? -- Chapter Seven. When Coexistence Turns into Conflict -- Chapter Eight. The Serengeti- Mara: "Wild Africa" or Ancient Land of People? -- Chapter Nine. Amboseli: "Cattle Create Trees, Elephants Create Grassland" in the Shadow of Kilimanjaro -- Chapter Ten. The Kaputiei Plains: The Last Days of an Urban Savanna? -- Chapter Eleven. Ngorongoro: A Grand Experiment of People and Wildlife -- Chapter Twelve. Savannas of Our Future: Finding Diversity in the Middle Ground -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- INDEX

Sommario/riassunto

This book tells the sweeping story of the role that East African savannas played in human evolution, how people, livestock, and wildlife interact in the region today, and how these relationships might shift as



the climate warms, the world globalizes, and human populations grow.Our ancient human ancestors were nurtured by African savannas, which today support pastoral peoples and the last remnants of great Pleistocene herds of large mammals. Why has this wildlife thrived best where they live side-by-side with humans? Ecologist Robin S. Reid delves into the evidence to find that herding is often compatible with wildlife, and that pastoral land use sometimes enriches savanna landscapes and encourages biodiversity. Her balanced, scientific, and accessible examination of the current state of the relationships among the region's wildlife and people holds critical lessons for the future of conservation around the world.