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Islands In A Far Sea: The Fate Of Nature In Hawai'i (A Latitude 20 Book) |
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Islands In A Far Sea: The Fate Of Nature In Hawai'i (A Latitude 20 Book)
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by John L. Culliney
Sales Rank: 932002
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Discount: 22 %
$42.48
At Amazon
on 6-20-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 420 pages
Published by: University of Hawaii PressEdition: Revised Edition January 15, 2006
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0824829476
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0824829476
Book Dimensions:
10.1 x 7.1 x 1.3 inches
Weighs: 2.4 pounds
Book Description
First published in 1988, Islands in a Far Sea offers a comprehensive environmental history of Hawai‘i. This thoroughly revised edition begins with an up-to-date account of the geological formation and shaping of the Islands, their colonization by plants and animals, and the patterns of ecology and evolution that unfolded in nurturing seas and on breathtaking landscapes.
Beginning some 1,500 years ago, Hawai‘i was one of the last Edens to be exploited by human beings, and its transformation has been among the most rapid. Seeking to improve life, humans have grossly altered the living nature of the Islands from the coral reefs to the volcanic summits. Since the first arrival of Polynesian canoes, Hawai‘i has been a venue of accelerating extinction and today leads the United States in the rate of permanent loss of native plants and animals.
This book tells the story of human interaction with Hawai‘is native landscapes and rich biological heritage. The! authors accessible language allows readers to grasp basic geological and biological principles and to understand the perhaps surprising vulnerability of Hawaiian ecosystems-which have coevolved with volcanoes-to human impact. Islands in a Far Sea includes many well-documented historical examples of such impacts, featuring growth and greed, fears and foibles as humans confronted endemic nature in Hawai‘i. Citing a large array of sources, the author makes it possible for interested readers to probe more deeply the changes in natural systems that have ensued on all of the Hawaiian Islands. To date the result has been the tragic reduction of a unique and benign biota. However, the book holds out hope that current efforts to protect what is left of Hawai‘i's flora and fauna in their remaining wild settings may yet succeed.
The theme of conservation pervades Islands in a Far Sea, as does a sense of urgency. Without intense care and effort, what is natural about ! Hawai‘i will soon pass into history. Anyone with an interest in conserving the native life of the land will come away from this work with both an informed awareness of the problem and, hopefully, a resolve to promote human stewardship of Hawai‘is natural identity.
About The Author
John L. Culliney is a graduate of Yale and Duke universities and holds a doctorate in zoology. He has taught biology and marine science in Hawai‘i since 1978 and has authored four books on subjects ranging from the North American continental shelf to the horticulture of native Hawaiian plants. He lives on the island of O‘ahu.
Reader Reviews
I bet "Islands in a Far Sea" is the first book published by a taxpayer-supported public university press to call the taxpayers -- or at least the ones ranching on the Big Island -- "juvenile yahoos." Hawaii Pacific University professor of biology John Culliney lets it all hang out in his updated review of the natural history of "the world's finest natural laboratory for the study of evolution." Subtitled "The Fate of Nature in Hawaii," it makes for gloomy reading. Although a strong environmentalist, zoologist Culliney at least does not buy into the ohia-hugging claptrap that decorates all too much writing about Hawaii's natural history. Ohia is the native name for Metrosideros polymorpha, the characteristic and unique tree of Hawaiian rain forests.) Nor does he fall for the PC notion that pre-Contact Hawaiians loved the aina (land) so much that they lived in placid harmony with it. "Humans would shape the nature of the islands far more than they would be shaped by it," Culliney writes. "The nature of Hawaii was far from pristine when the Europeans and Americans began to influence the islands." Overall, Culliney brings tradewind freshness to a field of writing clogged with sappy romanticism. He is virtually unique among nature writers -- whether mere enthusiasts or professional ecologists -- in failing to rave about our islands' "rich volcanic soil." "Rich volcanic soil" is a cliche that was originally and accurately used to describe the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily. Hawaiian volcanoes are different, and Hawaii's soil is good for little but to hold plants out of the ocean. Citing work by Peter Vitousek of Stanford University, Culliney points out that older islands, like fabulously green Kauai, would be scarcely able to support plant life, for lack of phosphorous, if it weren't for dust blown over from the steppes of Central Asia. But if Culliney casts a more than commonly beady eye on the more inane claims of the greens, he is far from contented with what's been going on here. Except for humans themselves and their fire, nothing has harmed native plants and animals more than big grazing mammals. And no one group arouses Culliney more than hunters. He calls their contrived arguments to continue, even enhance, the damage "neolithic eco-thinking." Even real estate developers finish second to hunters in Culliney's rogues' gallery, though not by much. For a reader wanting a compendious summary of the history and present prospects of Hawaii's natural life, "Islands in a Far Sea" is hard to beat. So much has changed, even in the 18 years since the first edition came out. Not only have new kinds of assaults on native life been introduced -- noisy coqui frogs from Puerto Rico, for example -- but an enormous amount of fresh research has been published on these already much-studied islands. The discoveries of unsuspected species of flightless birds -- probably eaten to extinction by the first Polynesians, who found little here in the way of vegetable food -- were just one of a large number of surprises brought to light in recent years.
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Islands In A Far Sea: The Fate Of Nature In Hawai'i (A Latitude 20 Book)
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Price: $42.48
Updated on 6-20-2008.
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