Re: Rainforest composition and histories of human disturbance

Philip Deitiker wrote:
> 
> Ambio. 2003 Aug;32(5):346-52.  Related Articles, Links
> 
> Rainforest composition and histories of human disturbance in
> Solomon Islands.
> 
> Bayliss-Smith T, Hviding E, Whitmore T.
> 
> Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, UK.
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> On the basis of a Solomon Islands case study, we report that
> tropical rainforests hitherto perceived as untouched,
> pristine, virgin, etc., are actually sites of former
> settlement, extensive forest clearance, and
> irrigated/swidden agriculture.

A tree can become too large, 
to be practical for stone age people to cut down.
It's easier to cut down four trees 
which are the right size for your dugouts,
than it is to cut down one that is twice as thick, 
and split it four ways.

During General Sullivan's campaign to extirpate the Iriquois
from New York, the officer's journals recorded black walnuts
and sycamores which were six feet in diameter and ninety feet tall.

It's the existence of these "old growth" trees, 
which give their forests, the pristene look.

-- 
pete