Nature's ghosts : confronting extinction from the age of Jefferson to the age of ecology /
Barrow, Mark V.,1960-author.
As Mark V. Barrow Jr. reveals in "Nature's Ghosts", the threat of species loss has haunted Americans since the early days of the republic. Barrow shows how Americans came to understand that it was not only possible for entire species to die out, but that humans themselves could be responsible for their extinction. These fascinating stories of endangered animals and the dedicated individuals who have studied and struggled to protect them offer an unprecedented view of what we've lost -- and a stark reminder of the hard work of preservation still ahead.
First published: 2009.
As Mark V. Barrow Jr. reveals in "Nature's Ghosts", the threat of species loss has haunted Americans since the early days of the republic. Barrow shows how Americans came to understand that it was not only possible for entire species to die out, but that humans themselves could be responsible for their extinction. These fascinating stories of endangered animals and the dedicated individuals who have studied and struggled to protect them offer an unprecedented view of what we've lost -- and a stark reminder of the hard work of preservation still ahead.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Bones of contention: the American incognitum and the discovery of extinction -- Paradise lost: unraveling the mysteries of insular species -- Sounding the alarm about continent-wide wildlife extinction -- Nationalism, nostalgia, and the campaign to save the bison -- Going global: the American committee and the first inventory of extinction -- The Latin American turn: nature protection in the Western Hemisphere -- Enter ecology: preserving nature's living laboratory -- Reconsidering raptors during the interwar years -- Salvation through science?: the first life-history studies of endangered species -- "The nation's first responsibility": saving endangered species in the age of ecology.
Wildlife conservation
Endangered species
Extinction (Biology)