. The Changing Illinois environment : critical trends : summary report of the Critical Trends Assessment Project. Man; Pollution; Environmental protection; Ecology; Environmental impact analysis. Prairies • 45 ¥ "The appropriation of habitat by habit" Grasslands are found in Illinois where climate and soils produce trees in others parts of the world. The difference is fire. Fires occur spontaneously in nature, but archeo- logical evidence confirms that the early humans of Illinois also deliberately burned their range. Fire ren- dered the landscape more hospitable—by driving game to s
. The Changing Illinois environment : critical trends : summary report of the Critical Trends Assessment Project. Man; Pollution; Environmental protection; Ecology; Environmental impact analysis. Prairies • 45 ¥ "The appropriation of habitat by habit" Grasslands are found in Illinois where climate and soils produce trees in others parts of the world. The difference is fire. Fires occur spontaneously in nature, but archeo- logical evidence confirms that the early humans of Illinois also deliberately burned their range. Fire ren- dered the landscape more hospitable—by driving game to slaughter, by clearing brush from fields, and by killing off woody plants that competed with the (mainly) annual plants that supplied the seeds and tubers upon which advanced hunter- gatherers relied. Many of the plants that were nurtured by gatherers and later by the first farmers are quick to exploit disturbed areas. Burning was an easy way to see that the landscape stayed dis- turbed, to the benefit of both annual plants and plant-gatherers. Some researchers have speculated that, were it not for the fires set by Native Americans, forest would have covered as much as 20% more of the Illinois landscape at the time the French explorers arrived. According to this interpretation, prairies arc cultural as much as natural features. The mixed-grassland-. Some researchers have speculated that, were it not for the fires set by Native Americans, forest would have covered as much as 20% more of the Illinois landscape at the time the French explorers arrived. forest of presettlement Illinois was a result of what geographer Carl Sauer called "the appropriation of habitat by ; What human hands did to help create the prairies, they can also undo. For instance, by putting away their plows and putting out fires, humans virtually ensure that trees will take over an aban- doned farm field. Hot, dry climates favor grasses over trees. There was a resurgence of hot summers in t
Size: 1948px × 1283px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjecte, booksubjectecology, booksubjectman
