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Seeking the American Tropics - South Florida's Early Naturalists (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R882
Discovery Miles 8 820
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Seeking the American Tropics - South Florida's Early Naturalists (Hardcover)
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For centuries, the southernmost region of the Florida peninsula was
seen by outsiders as wild and inaccessible, one of the last
frontiers in the quest to understand and reveal the natural history
of the continent. Seeking the American Tropics tells the stories of
the explorers and adventurers who-for better and for worse-helped
open the unique environment of South Florida to the world.Beginning
with the arrival of Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513, James Kushlan
describes how most of the famous Spanish explorers never made it to
South Florida, leaving the area's rich natural history out of
scientific records for the next 250 years. It wasn't until the
British colonial and early American periods that the first
surveyors were commissioned and the first naturalists-Titian Peale
and John James Audubon-arrived to collect, draw, and report the
subtropical flora and fauna that were so unique to North America.
Moving into the railroad era, Kushlan illuminates the activities of
scientists such as Henry Nehrling and Charles Torrey Simpson
alongside the dabbling of wealthy amateur naturalists. He follows
the story to the 1920s, when tourism was flourishing and signs of
ecological damage were starting to show. Years of wildlife trade,
resource extraction, invasive species introduction, and swamp
drainage had taken their toll. And many of the naturalists who had
been outspoken about protecting South Florida's environment had
also played a part in its destruction. Today the region is among
one of the most thoroughly studied places on the planet-but at a
cost. In this absorbing and cautionary tale, Kushlan illustrates
how exploration has so often trumped conservation throughout
history. He exposes how much of the natural world we have already
lost in this vivid portrait of the Florida of yesterday.
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