Islands in Space and Time
- Book Review,
by David G. Campbell
Amazon.com
The islands of Campbell's title are not necessarily sea-encircled places, but endangered landscapes surrounded by sweeping ecological transformation: the Everglades, the Brazilian rainforest, streams in Arizona, prairies in Canada. Touring these, we learn about complex issues like "integrated ecosystem management" and the theory of island biogeography, which holds, in part, that the rate of species divergence is directly related to the size of a given ecosystem. The heavily illustrated book, sponsored by The Nature Conservancy, makes a solid argument for the preservation of large and diverse wilderness areas.
From Publishers Weekly
For this tribute to the richness of the natural world, Grinnell College biologist Campbell (The Crystal Desert) traveled to 10 of the remarkable habitats protected by the Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places program. Campbell's prose is only workmanlike but his understanding of ecosystems is deep and conveyed clearly as he describes the geological and biological history of these preserves, as well as the influence that humans have had on the flora and fauna of each area. Focusing on reserves in three South American countries (Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay), Belize, Mexico, the Palau Islands and four U.S. states (Arizona, Florida, Hawaii and Montana), his reach is international, yet rooted in the regional. Campbell describes the current state of wildlife?whether bison in Montana, flamingos in Mexico or mangroves in Belize?in these preserves, which he views as habitat islands surrounded by human disturbance. Unless great care is taken, he explains, all are ephemeral; but if they are lost, some small solace will be gained by knowing that they have been chronicled in this fine, well-organized book. The text is complemented by 100 striking color photographs. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Campbell, a gifted ecologist and writer (The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica, LJ 11/1/92) has written a moving, thought-provoking description of some of the last remaining intact ecosystems on Earth. He describes in beautiful prose both the natural and actual history of ten "islands in space and time" spanning the Americas and the Pacific Islands. He traveled from the Florida Keys and Everglades to the Flying D Ranch in Montana to the San Pedro in Arizona. He then traversed the high Andes in Ecuador and pushed through the jungles of southern Brazil and Paraguay. In the Pacific, he visited the island paradises of Molokai and Palau. The result is both a portrait of these places and a plea to take stock now and preserve our planet while we can. Campbell points out again and again that it's up to the community surrounding these areas to preserve them now before they are lost forever. Recommended for the natural history and ecology collections of public and academic libraries.Sandra Knowles, Univ. of South Carolina Libs., ColumbiaCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
An information-dense, beautifully illustrated tour of ten endangered landscapes. In all but a couple of cases, the islands of the title are metaphorical: They refer not to seagirt places, but to small patches of wilderness surrounded by developing areas, wilderness now under the protection of the Nature Conservancy. Campbell (The Crystal Desert, 1992) introduces us to ten such places, including the fast-disappearing Everglades of Florida; the volcanic hills of the Hawaiian island of Moloka'i, now being invaded by introduced plants; and the Brazilian rainforest of Guaraquecaba, lying near the megalopolis of So Paulo and in danger of being clearcut for its valuable timber. Collectively, these wild places encompass, in Campbell's view, the best of ``this thin film of life . . . the only vital zone that we know of in the universe,'' lands that have not yet been altered in the interest of economic progress. He likens their preservation to the work of ``a physician treating wounded soldiers on the front line,'' a kind of environmental triage. Often his tours have a hurried feel, taking in too much data in too little space; the result is a text that, in places, reads like a preserve manager's biological inventory. This detracts somewhat from the narrative--a shame inasmuch as Campbell is so skillful a writer. We see little of Campbell himself, too, in this whirlwind tour, although his small personal touches--for instance, a remembrance of standing on a beach on the South Pacific island of Peleliu with five Japanese war veterans, ``mute and deeply saddened''--mark the book's finest moments. The excellent full-color photographs afford the reader an opportunity to see these places as the ecological treasures they are, reinforcing Campbell's argument that they should be preserved. All in all, a fine testimonial to the Nature Conservancy's ongoing work. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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