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Book Cover
E-book
Author O'Gorman, Emily, author.

Title Wetlands in a dry land : more-than-human histories of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin / Emily O'Gorman
Published Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2021]

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xvii, 261 pages) : illustrations (some color), maps
Series Weyerhaeuser environmental books
Weyerhaeuser environmental book.
Contents Weaving : postcolonial and multispecies politics of plants -- Leaking : containment and recalcitrance of swamps -- Infecting : irrigation, mosquitoes, and malaria in wartime -- Crossing : wildlife in agriculture -- Enclosing : pelicans, protected areas, and private property -- Migrating : wetlands, transcontinental bird movements, and global environmental crisis -- Rippling : capitalism, seals, and baselines
Summary "In the name of agriculture, urban growth, and disease control, humans have drained, filled, or otherwise destroyed nearly 87 percent of the world's wetlands over the past three centuries. Unintended consequences include biodiversity loss, poor water quality, and the erosion of cultural sites, and only in the past few decades have wetlands been widely recognized as worth preserving. Emily O'Gorman asks, What has counted as a wetland, for whom, and with what consequences? Using the Murray-Darling Basin-a massive river system in eastern Australia that includes over 30,000 wetland areas-as a case study and drawing on archival research and original interviews, O'Gorman examines how people and animals have shaped wetlands from the late nineteenth century to today. She illuminates deeper dynamics by relating how Aboriginal peoples acted then and now as custodians of the landscape, despite the policies of the Australian government; how the movements of water birds affected farmers; and how mosquitoes have defied efforts to fully understand, let alone control, them. Situating the region's history within global environmental humanities conversations, O'Gorman argues that we need to understand wetlands as socioecological landscapes in order to create new kinds of relationships with and futures for these places"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on July 09, 2021)
Subject Human ecology -- Australia -- Murray River Watershed (N.S.W.-S.A.)
Human ecology -- Australia -- Darling River Watershed (Qld. and N.S.W.)
Nature -- Effect of human beings on -- Australia -- Murray River Watershed (N.S.W.-S.A.)
Nature -- Effect of human beings on -- Australia -- Darling River Watershed (Qld. and N.S.W.)
Wetland management -- Australia -- Murray River Watershed (N.S.W.-S.A.)
Wetland management -- Australia -- Darling River Watershed (Qld. and N.S.W.)
NATURE -- Ecosystems & Habitats -- Lakes, Ponds & Swamps.
Ecology
Human ecology
Nature -- Effect of human beings on
Wetland management
SUBJECT Murray River Watershed (N.S.W.-S.A.) -- Environmental conditions
Darling River Watershed (Qld. and N.S.W.) -- Environmental conditions
Subject Australia -- Darling River Watershed
Australia -- Murray River Watershed
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2020055836
ISBN 9780295749044
0295749040
0295749032
9780295749037