Islands: Portraits of Miniature WorldsEndangered ecosystems catch the attention of explorers and protectors of our blue planet. Lemurs and lobelias are among the remarkable animals and plants on islands in this book: Mauritius and the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Crete and Santorini, Lombok and Bali, the Bahamas, Galapagos, Iceland, Indonesia, Madagascar, Easter Island and the Hawaiian Archipelago. Author Louise B. Young highlights the unique geological history, biogeography, and physical splendor of these delicate worlds.
Readers will be tantalized by these islands of lava and coral. Fiery volcanic rock formed Molokai and its sister Hawaiian Islands, Easter Island, Crete, Santorini, Mauritius, Iceland, the Galapagos, and Sri Lanka. Rubies have been deposited by vulcanism in the soil of Sri Lanka. The author leads us down into a ruby mine and up to tea and teak cloaked mountains.
Seven million year old Mauritius is far younger than ancient Sri Lanka. Mauritius, a speck in the Indian Ocean, is isolated from a large land mass thus promoting the evolution of endemic species. Mauritius was discovered in 1505 by the Portuguese and by 1625 settlers had eaten and extinguished the endemic dodo. Humans have now stripped 99 percent of the native teak and mahogany forests. This habitat loss contributed to the decline of the Mauritian kestrel; valiant measures have now restored the kestrel population to several dozen.
In Bali, Madagascar, Indonesia and Hawaii, too, forest loss impacts wildlife. Young describes introduction into Hawaii both of beneficial species (kukui tree) and of destructive aliens that degrade habitats: mongooses, pigs, goats, sheep, and cattle. Readers will follow the author as she traces the roles of silt and sewage in the decline of Hawaii's coral reefs.
All save one of the islands described are accessible today. The exception is Dogger Bank, now covered by the North Sea, and which may be the origin of the mysterious tale of Atlantis. Before rising seas drowned the island about 12,000 years ago, humans hunted the wooly rhinoceros, wild oxen, bear, and the mammoth.
Young encourages us to view Earth as an island in space and to nurture the living kaleidoscope that blankets Earth. A dust jacket illustration by Jennifer Dewey of a wind-buffeted, palm-crowned isle beckons ecotourists and travelers of the imagination.
The views and opinions expressed in all articles that appear in "Conservation Perspectives" are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of NESCB.