BIOL 3130 Lecture 1: 1
22 Mar 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Every natural ecosystem has been changed, most profoundly changed. Exincions, altered funcioning of ecosystems, reduced availability of resources, soil erosion. Humans may" have been responsible for mega-fauna exincions in the americas shortly ater human colonizaion from asia about 11,000 years ago. Aristotle (382 334 bc) commented on the widespread destrucion of forests in the balic. Barren landscapes of turkey, syria, iraq, and iran are unnatural deserts that resulted from massive exploitaion of fragile woodlands. Deforestaion of europe by the early 18th century, forest areas maintained as private game management and royal preserves. In great britain, many of the naive forests were gone by the 12th century. Southeastern ontario was largely deforested between 1800 1900 (with this trend reversing since wwii) Hawaiian islands: half of hawaii"s naive birds went exinct soon ater the polynesians arrived, half of the remaining species of birds went exinct ater captain james cook arrived. We now consume a large fracion of the planet"s resources.
