With its rich evolutionary record of natural systems and long
history of human activity, the Chesapeake Bay provides an excellent
example of how a great estuary has responded to the powerful forces
of human settlement and environmental change. Discovering the
Chesapeake explores all of the long-term changes the Chesapeake has
undergone and uncovers the inextricable connections among land,
water, and humans in this unusually delicate ecosystem.
Edited by a historian, a paleobiologist, and a geologist at the
Johns Hopkins University and written for general readers, the book
brings together experts in various disciplines to consider the
truly complex and interesting environmental history of the
Chesapeake and its watershed. Chapters explore a variety of topics,
including the natural systems of the watershed and their origins;
the effects of human interventions ranging from Indian
slash-and-burn practices to changing farming techniques; the
introduction of pathogens, both human and botanical; the
consequences of the oyster's depletion; the response of bird and
animal life to environmental factors introduced by humans; and the
influence of the land and water on the people who settled along the
Bay.
Discovering the Chesapeake, originating in two conferences
sponsored by the National Science Foundation, achieves a broad
historical and scientific appreciation of the various processes
that shaped the Chesapeake region.
"Today's Chesapeake Bay is only some ten thousand years old.
What a different world it was... when the region was the home of
the ground sloth, giant beaver, dire wolf, mastodon, and other
megafauna. In the next few thousand years, the ice may form again
and the Bay willonce more be the valley of the Susquehanna, unless,
of course, human-induced changes in climate create some other
currently unpredictable condition." -- from the Introduction [p.
xviii]
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