1st Edition
Spatializing the History of Ecology Sites, Journeys, Mappings
Throughout its history, the discipline of ecology has always been profoundly entangled with the history of space and place. On the one hand, ecology is a field science that has thrived on the study of concrete spatial entities, such as islands, forests or rivers. These spaces are the workplaces in which ecological phenomena are identified, observed and experimented on. They provide both epistemic opportunities and constraints that structure the agenda and the analytical sensibilities of ecological researchers. On the other hand, ecological knowledge and practices have become important resources through which spaces and places are classified, delineated, explained, experienced and managed. The impact of these activities reaches far beyond the realms of the ecological discipline. Many ecological concepts such as "biotopes," "ecosystems" and "the biosphere" have become entities that widely resonate in public life and policy making.
This book explores the mutual entanglement between space and knowledge-making in the history of ecology. Its first goal is to explore to which extent a spatial perspective can shed new light on the history of ecological science. Second, it uses ecology as a critical site to gain broader insights into the history of the environment in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Via a series of case studies – discussing topics that range from ecological field stations in the early-twentieth century Caribbean over wisent breeding in Nazi Germany to computer modelling in North American deserts – the book offers a tour through the changing landscapes of modern ecology.
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: Places of Ecology/Ecologies of Place
Raf De Bont and Jens Lachmund
Part I: Crafting Zones and Regions
2. Mapping Heimat: Amateur Natural History and Plant Ecology in Imperial Germany
Nils Güttler
3. Discovering Nature’s Secret Spaces: The Rise and Fall of Life Zone Theory in North American Ecology
Roderick Neumann
4. A Laboratory for Tropical Ecology: Colonial Models and American Science at Cinchona, Jamaica
Megan Raby
5. Field Stations and the Problem of Scale: Local, Regional, and Global at the Desert Lab
Jeremy Vetter
6. Ecology and Total Landscape: The West Highland Survey
Mark Toogood
Part II: Modelling Systems
7. Ecosystem Simulation as a Practice of Emplacement
Etienne Benson
8. The City as an Ecosystem: Paul Duvigneaud and the Ecological Study of Brussels
Jens Lachmund
Part III: Fashioning Objects of Conservation
9. Extinct in the Wild: Finding a Place for the European Bison
Raf De Bont
10. The Ecological Discovery of the Global Wadden Sea
Anna-Katharina Wöbse
11. From Wildlife Sanctuary to Biodiversity Hotspot: Global Reserve Design Models and the Making of Chitwan National Park
Simone Schleper and Hans Schouwenburg
Conclusion
Raf De Bont and Jens Lachmund
Index
Biography
Raf de Bont is a Lecturer in the History Department at Maastricht University.
Jens Lachmund is a Lecturer in Science and Technology Studies at Maastricht University.