The Silver Lining: The Benefits of Natural DisastersFloods, fires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes--we are quick to call them ''natural disasters.'' But are they? Did the great fires that swept Yellowstone in 1988 devastate the park, or did they just ravage our image of the park as a fixed, unchanging national treasure? This lucid, lively book reveals the shortsightedness behind conceiving of such events as disastrous to nature. Indeed, Seth Reice contends, such thinking has led to policies that have done the environment more harm than good--the U.S. Forest Service's campaign against natural forest fires and the Army Corps of Engineers' flood prevention program are examples. He points out ways in which we can better address the wide range of environmental problems humanity faces at the dawn of the new millennium. |
Contents
The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same | xiii |
Disturbance Patchiness and Communities | 22 |
Recolonization or How Do All Those Species Fill Up the Gaps? | 49 |
Disturbance Ecology and Fire Management Let It Burn | 74 |
Disturbance Ecology and Flood Control | 100 |
Biodiversity Ecosystem Services and Human Needs | 132 |
HumanCaused Disturbance All Disturbances Are Not Created Equal | 151 |
Toward an Ecological Worldview | 179 |
Living with Disturbances | 203 |
Index | 213 |