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passage 1
P1
The myth persists that in 1492 the Western Hemisphere was an untamed wilderness and that it was European settlers who harnessed and transformed its ecosystems. ███ ███████████ █████ ████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ███ ████ ███████ ██ ███████ ███████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██████ ███████████ ███ █████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████████████ ██████████ ███████ ██████████ ██ █████ ██ ████████ ███
Intro topic ·
Misconception that Europeans were the first to tame wilderness
In fact, Native Americans altered the forest before Europeans.
Some researchers' perspective ·
Burning of forests by Native Americans was minimal
P2
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Critique / Author's Main Point ·
Lot of evidence that Native Americans routinely burned forests
Support ·
Charcoal, characteristics of fires, "mosaic quality," open clearings
These are all evidence of Native American burning. "Mosaic quality" refers to forests with trees of different ages -- some young, some old.
P3
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Additional support ·
Fire-tolerant plants, homogeneous forests (all of same type of tree)
Example ·
Nicaraguan pine forests are example of homogeneous forest produced by burning
Tropical regions don't get many natural fires. Nicaragua would naturally have mixed forests. But there are homogeneous pine forests there.
Concession ·
Tropical areas in cooler, drier, higher areas do get natural homogeneous forests
Implies that Nicaragua is warmer, wetter, and lower. That's why homogeneous pine forests in Nicaragua are evidence of burning.
Additional Support ·
Nicaraguan pine forests today grow in areas that were burned
This probably also happened in the past. Pine forests were found only where there were Native American settlements. When the settlements left, the pine forests disappeared.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
7.
The "
a
forest clearing followed ██ ██████████ ███████ ██ ███████
b
tropical rain forest ████████ ██ ████ ██████
c
European settlement followed ██ ███████████ ██ ████
d
homogeneous pine forest ████████ ██ █████ █████████
e
pine forests followed ██ ███████████ ███████████