Forest primeval and earthworms

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BG_Farmer

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In a thread a while back, I got jumped on for implying that there was cleared and second growth land in North America in early colonial times. I knew from period references that this was indeed the case but had stuff to do and no time to re-research. In the course of looking up something else, however, I came across this article on the introduction of earthworms to North America:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/jamestown/charles-mann-text

The text of interest in this context is on pp. 2-3, which sums up concisely the landscape of Virginia as inhabited by the Powhatan tribe at the time of colonization.

Anyway, it is an interesting article in its own right and I thought some might find it of interest.
 
That author wrote a book on the same subject called 1491. A very interesting book that proves that pristine wilderness was mostly a myth in North America.
 
That was quite the interesting read - thanks for sharing a very informative article.
 
I like worms----and bees. Two very important critters for the survival of humans, trees, and life on earth.
 
I'm surprised that Nat'l Geographic would print 'fancifully-imaginative' articles such as this. I'd like to hear the same author's 'take' (or spin) on the environmental effects of extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and demise of the American Chestnut. That all happened in the eastern hardwood forests too and there were 10s of millions of them right into the mid 1800s, despite the onslaught of chickens, pigs, cows, horses, dogs, cats, House Rats, Dandelions, house flies, Dew worms and Honey bees!
 
300Six said:
I'm surprised that Nat'l Geographic would print 'fancifully-imaginative' articles such as this. I'd like to hear the same author's 'take' (or spin) on the environmental effects of extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and demise of the American Chestnut. That all happened in the eastern hardwood forests too and there were 10s of millions of them right into the mid 1800s, despite the onslaught of chickens, pigs, cows, horses, dogs, cats, House Rats, Dandelions, house flies, Dew worms and Honey bees!
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Actually he does cover Passenger pigeons in the book 1491. The author is not a scientist but is a journalist reporting on current scientific research. One theory about Passenger pigeons is they were not as abundant pre-European settlement. Populations exploded as the native human population was devastated as much as 95% due to disease and other factors. There are few pigeon bones found in native garbage remains. Speculation is that humans kept the population low. It's a controversial theory. Read the book, it's fascinating.
 
halfaxe said:
Actually he does cover Passenger pigeons in the book 1491. The author is not a scientist but is a journalist reporting on current scientific research. One theory about Passenger pigeons is they were not as abundant pre-European settlement. Populations exploded as the native human population was devastated as much as 95% due to disease and other factors. There are few pigeon bones found in native garbage remains. Speculation is that humans kept the population low. It's a controversial theory. Read the book, it's fascinating.
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You couldn't expect to find cartilage-like soft bird bones years down the road due to the nature of them, plus knowing that mice and squirrels continually scout out convenient sources of calcium. Good luck even trying to find a shed deer antler after about 6 months. Natives might have gathered up eggs and squabs by the sackful or canoe load but no amount of on-foot human activity with nets, bows and arrows, sticks and slingshots is going to make so much as a dent in a population of millions that is constantly on the move.
 
Great article. I especially liked learning about malaria on the east coast. It had a similar effect here on the west coast. In fact, malaria is why the State of Oregon has cities with English names while the State of Washington has cities with Indian names. Oregon Natives had been wiped out by malaria when Europeans arrived here. The mosquitoes that carried malaria range as far north as the Columbia River - hence Puget Sound Indians weren't wiped out like Oregon Indians.

For this same reason Washington State does not have to fear the zika virus.
 
Square_peg said:
Great article. I especially liked learning about malaria on the east coast. It had a similar effect here on the west coast. In fact, malaria is why the State of Oregon has cities with English names while the State of Washington has cities with Indian names. Oregon Natives had been wiped out by malaria when Europeans arrived here. The mosquitoes that carried malaria range as far north as the Columbia River - hence Puget Sound Indians weren't wiped out like Oregon Indians.

For this same reason Washington State does not have to fear the zika virus.
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Interesting! Malaria was also a scourge during the construction of the 100 mile long Rideau Canal from Kingston to Ottawa during the 1830s. Presumably some of the imported workers had spent time in tropical locales. Worker bunkhouses weren't bug proof and loose mosquitoes in there would have had a field day. Anyway you'd be hard-pressed to become exposed to malaria here now.
 
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