Nothing New under the Sun? George Perkins Marsh and Roots of U.S. Physical Geography

Abstract

U.S. geomorphologists and biogeographers often cite early theoretical roots dating back to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century exemplars such as Powell, Gilbert, Cowles, and Clements, or earlier European contributors like Hutton, Lyell, von Humboldt, and, of course, Darwin. Yet reviews of our intellectual roots often overlook an early and important U.S. contributor: George Perkins Marsh. Marsh’s work on Man and Nature is more often cited in the field of environmental history, where it is appropriately noted as a prescient review of human impacts on the landscape. We suggest, however, that his significance extends beyond early environmental activism and that in fact Marsh describes many concepts and analytical approaches that continue to underlie modern geomorphology and biogeography. Moreover, Marsh’s ideas and approach presaged fundamental concepts central to our current study of the Anthropocene and coupled human–environment systems, as he emphasized interconnections among biotic, geomorphic and human elements, perhaps most notably with regard to impacts of deforestation on flood regimes. There is, therefore, much to learn from Marsh—both about early thinking in physical geography and about the depth of scientific analysis underlying our discipline’s early interest in human impacts.

美国地貌学者和生物地理学者经常引用的理论基础, 可以回溯到19世纪晚期、20世纪早期美国代表人物（Powell, Gilbert, Cowles和Clements等）或者欧洲学者（Hutton, Lyell, von Humboldt和Darwin等）。然而, 在回顾知识本源时, 我们经常忽略一个早期重要的美国贡献者：George Perkins Marsh。Marsh的著作《人与自然》在环境史领域中经常被引用, 是人类影响景观的先见之作。但是我们建议, Marsh的重要性不应仅限于早期环境活动家, 他也描述了很多现代地貌学和生物地理学的概念和分析手段。Marsh强调生物、地貌和人类的相互联系（尤其是森林砍伐对洪水的影响）, 而这些思想和方法预示了人类世研究的基本概念、耦合了人类系统与环境系统。因此, 我们可以从Marsh学习到很多东西, 包括自然地理学的早期研究, 以及早期研究人类影响的深度。

Los geomorfólogos y biogeógrafos norteamericanos a menudo citan raíces teóricas tempranas que se remontan a personajes de finales del siglo XIX y comienzos del XX como Powell, Gilbert, Cowles y Clements, o a colaboradores europeos anteriores a ellos como Hutton, Lyell, von Humboldt y, desde luego, Darwin. Pero las revisiones de nuestras raíces intelectuales con frecuencia omiten un aportante temprano e importante de los Estados Unidos: George Perkins Marsh. El trabajo de Marsh sobre El Hombre y la Naturaleza se cita más a menudo en el campo de la historia ambiental, escrito apropiadamente notado como una revisión profética de los impactos humanos sobre el paisaje. Sugerimos, sin embargo, que su significación va más allá del activismo ambiental pionero y que, en efecto, Marsh describe muchos conceptos y enfoques analíticos que siguen subrayando la geomorfología y biogeografía modernas. Aún más, las ideas y el enfoque de Marsh presagiaron conceptos fundamentales que son centrales en nuestro estudio actual del Antropoceno y de los sistemas humano–ambientales acoplados, en cuanto él enfatizó las interconexiones entre elementos bióticos, geomórficos y humanos, quizás con mayor fuerza en lo que concierne a los impactos de la deforestación sobre los regímenes de inundación. Por tanto, hay mucho que aprender de Marsh––tanto acerca del pensamiento inicial de la geografía física como sobre la profundidad del análisis científico que sustenta el interés temprano de nuestra disciplina por los impactos antrópicos.

Key Words:

• Anthropocene
• biogeography
• environmental science
• geomorphology
• human impacts

关键词:

• 人类世
• 生物地理学
• 环境科学
• 地貌学
• 人类的影响。

Palabras clave:

• Antropoceno
• biogeografía
• ciencia ambiental
• geomorfología
• impactos humanos

Acknowledgment

We are indebted to two anonymous reviewers, whose comments resulted in substantive improvements to the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jacob Bendix

JACOB BENDIX is a Professor in the Department of Geography at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include plant biogeography and fluvial geomorphology, with particular interest in disturbance ecology and the interactions between ecological and geomorphological processes and patterns.

Michael A. Urban

MICHAEL A. URBAN is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include human drivers of environmental change in surficial and biotic systems and how this relates to concepts such as the Anthropocene and exploring the mechanisms of how public policy develops in response to environmental drivers such as flood control, agricultural development, and climate change.