Mark J Plotkin

The Amazon

What Everyone Needs to Know(r)

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

In this addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, ecologist and conservationist Mark Plotkin offers an overview of Amazonia, the largest and most important rainforest and ecosystem in the world.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press, USA
• Seitenzahl: 248
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. März 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 208mm x 141mm x 22mm
• Gewicht: 301g
• ISBN-13: 9780190668280
• ISBN-10: 0190668288
• Artikelnr.: 57791854

Autorenporträt

Mark J. Plotkin is President of the Amazon Conservation Team. He is the author of Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, Medicine Quest, and coauthored The Killers Within.

Inhaltsangabe

* Introduction
* What is a Tropical Rainforest?
* What Do We Mean When We Say the Amazon?
* Why is the Amazon Important?
* Geology, Soils and Vegetation
* Geological history - What is the geological history of Amazonia?
* Soils - Do large and diverse Amazonian rainforests thrive on poor
soil?
* Terra preta - What is terra preta?
* Vegetation - What are the major forest and vegetation types in
Amazonia?
* Savannas - What are savannas and how are they created?
* Tepuis - What are tepuis?
* Nutrient cycling - If the soils are so poor, how can lush rainforests
flourish?
* Rivers
* The Amazon
* Source of the Amazon - What is the source of the Amazon River?
* River types - What are the various river types in Amazonia?
* Aquatic habitats - What are some of the characteristic aquatic
habitats of Amazonia?
* Casiquiare canal - What is the Casiquiare Canal?
* Coral reef - Is there a coral reef in the Amazon?
* Indians
* 1492 population
* Languages - How many indigenous languages are there in Amazonia?
* Paleoindians, the first arrivals - When did the first humans arrive
in Amazonia?
* Shamans - What is a Shaman?
* Shrunken heads - Shrunken heads: fact or fiction?
* Slash and burn agriculture - What is slash-and-burn agriculture?
* Uncontacted tribes - Do uncontacted tribes still exist?
* History
* The Struggle for the Amazon
* Treaty of Tordesillas - What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?
* Aguirre - Was Werner Herzog's film "Aguirre, the Wrath of God," based
on a historical figure?
* Teixeira - What role did Pedro Teixeira play in the colonization of
the Amazon?
* Mapping - What is the history of the mapping of the Amazon?
* The Advent of the European Scientists
* Merian - Was the first European scientific explorer of the Amazon a
woman?
* Darwin - What is the connection between the Amazon and the origins of
the Theory of Evolution?
* Agassiz / Harvard
* Amazon Rubber and the Jari Project
* Rubber atrocities - What were the Putumayo Rubber Atrocities?
* Rubber as commodity - How Did Amazonian Rubber Become A Key Global
Commodity?
* Rubber / Fordlandia - Why did Henry Ford fail at Fordlandia in
Brazil?
* Jari Project - Fordlandia redux - What was the Jari Project, and why
did it fail?
* Rondon / Mendes - Who were Cândido Rondon and Chico Mendes?
* Amazonian biota
* Animals
* Faunal origins - What is the origin of the Amazonian fauna?
* Vampire bats - Do vampire bats suck human blood?
* Spiders - How dangerous are Amazonian spiders?
* Cats, crocodilians and serpents - Do jaguars, crocs and snakes eat
people in Amazonia?
* Frogs - Are there hallucinogenic frogs in the Amazon Rainforest?
* Pink dolphins - Are there pink dolphins in the Amazon?
* Fish diversity - Why does Amazonia harbor the most diverse freshwater
fish fauna in the world?
* Candiru catfish - Is the tiny candiru catfish as terrifying as its
reputation?
* Electric eels - How dangerous are electric eels?
* Piranhas - Do piranhas deserve their fearsome reputation?
* Sharks - Are there man-eating sharks in the Amazon?
* Plants
* Ayahuasca - What is ayahuasca?
* Bromeliads - What are the aerial aquaria of the Amazon?
* Coca - What is the traditional use of coca in the Amazon?
* Curare - What is Curare and Why is it Important?
* Lianas - Why are lianas so important and yet so poorly understood?
* Figs - Why are strangler figs not considered to be lianas?
* Palms - Why are palms the single most useful group of organisms to
the indigenous peoples of the Amazon?
* Palms with economic promise - Which Amazonian palms offer the
greatest economic promise for the future?
* Victoria lily - Did an Amazonian water lily serve as the inspiration
for steel frame architecture?
* Threats
* Cattle - What is the role of cattle ranching in Amazonian
agriculture?
* Dams - What is the status of hydroelectric dams in the Amazon?
* Gold - What is the impact of gold mining in the Amazon?
* Agriculture / Big - The Role of Export-Driven Large-Scale
Agricultural Production in Deforestation
* Agriculture / Small - What is the role of small-scale farming in
deforestation?
* Logging - What is the status of logging in the Amazon?
* Climate Change - How will climate change affect Amazonia?
* Deforestation - What drives deforestation in the Amazon?
* Oil and gas - What is the impact of oil and gas exploration on forest
peoples?
* Overhunting - What is the impact of overhunting and overfishing on
the Amazon?
* China - What is the Impact of China in Amazonia?
* Conclusion
* Conservation - How to Save the Amazon?