Tropical pioneers
Subtitle: human agency and ecological change in the highlands of Sri Lanka, 1800-1900
By: James L.A. Webb, Jr.
Series: Ohio University Press series in ecology and history
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Athens
Language: eng
Number of pages: 243
Subjects: Rain forest ecology -- Sri Lanka -- History -- 19th century; Agricultural ecology -- Sri Lanka -- History -- 19th century; Human ecology -- Sri Lanka -- History -- 19th century; Nature -- Effect of human beings on -- Sri Lanka -- History -- 19th century
Description: "In 1800, the highlands of Sri Lanka had some of the most biologically diverse tropical rainforests in the world. By 1900, only a few craggy corners and mountain caps had been spared the firestick. Highland villagers, through the extension of slash-and-burn agriculture, and British managers, through the creation of plantations - first of coffee, then cinchona, and finally tea - had removed virtually the entire primary forest cover.".

"Tropical Pioneers documents the conversion of a tropical rainforest biome and the collision between what previously had been more discrete ecological zones within South Asia. The author demonstrates that profound ecological transformations occurred in the highlands of Sri Lanka during the nineteenth century and suggests that the integration of tropical ecological zones is an important theme for historians to investigate elsewhere."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-233) and index.