FCE LTER Books and Book Chapters

Raising Cane in the 'Glades: The Global Sugar Trade and the Transformation of Florida

Gail M. Hollander — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:11:58 PDT

Over the last century, the Everglades underwent a metaphorical and ecological transition from impenetrable swamp to endangered wetland. At the heart of this transformation lies the Florida sugar industry, which by the 1990s was at the center of the political storm over the multi-billion dollar ecological “restoration” of the Everglades. Raising Cane in the ’Glades is the first study to situate the environmental transformation of the Everglades within the economic and historical geography of global sugar production and trade.

Using, among other sources, interviews, government and corporate documents, and recently declassified U.S. State Department memoranda, Gail M. Hollander demonstrates that the development of Florida’s sugar region was the outcome of pitched battles reaching the highest political offices in the U.S. and in countries around the world, especially Cuba—which emerges in her narrative as a model, a competitor, and the regional “other” to Florida’s “self.” Spanning the period from the age of empire to the era of globalization, the book shows how the “sugar question”—a label nineteenth-century economists coined for intense international debates on sugar production and trade—emerges repeatedly in new guises. Hollander uses the sugar question as a thread to stitch together past and present, local and global, in explaining Everglades transformation.

Monitoring Ecosystems: Interdisciplinary Approaches For Evaluating Ecoregional Initiatives

David E. Busch et al. — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:35:53 PDT

Monitoring Ecosystems brings together leading scientists and researchers to offer a ground-breaking synthesis of lessons learned about ecological monitoring in major ecoregional initiatives around the United States. Contributors present insights and experiences gained from their work in designing, developing, and implementing comprehensive ecosystem monitoring programs in the Pacific Northwest, the lower Colorado River Basin, and the Florida Everglades.

The book:

outlines the conceptual and scientific underpinnings for regional-scale ecosystem monitoring

examines the role and importance of data management, modeling, and integrative analyses

considers techniques for and experience with monitoring habitats, populations, and communities

Chapters by the editors synthesize and expand on points made throughout the volume and present recommendations for establishing frameworks for monitoring across scales, from local to international.

Monitoring Ecosystems presents a critical examination of the lessons learned from direct experience along with generalized conclusions that can be applied to monitoring programs in the United States and around the world. It is a vital contribution to science-based monitoring efforts that will allow those responsible for developing and implementing ecoregional initiatives to make use of knowledge gained in previous efforts.