European Animals Incite Ecological Changes in the New World Essay

European Animals Incite Ecological Changes in the recent World When Columbus and the scratch drop offed in the Americas, he was confronted with a totally new world. This was non just new in the intellect of people and land, but also in an ecological one as well. Columbus had stumbled across a land that, although already populated by people, was basically untouched. The people who lived in these new lands were completely in synchronise with nature. They valued the land for what it was worth and as such, they preserved it.Then came the waves of Europeans, and as we all know, things changed. Not only were the lives of the Amerindians drastically changed, but also the environmental science of the Americas was completely and permanently altered. Although the Europeans helped in these changes to the ecosystem, their part was minor when compared to the true criminals the European animals. It was the European animals that were introduced into the New World that had the most destructi ve effects on their new environment and forever altered the ecology of the Americas. Before winning a look into the effects the European animals had on the environment, we must first view the way things were prior to their introduction. During the time which pre-dated the arrival of the Europeans, the Americas were basically untouched. The land was populated with non just Indians, but also vast numbers game of plants and animals. The land provided almost all of the needs of the Indians and in return, the Indians took care of the land. The Amerindians utilise animals sparingly in work. The domesticated animals which they had included dogs, guinea pigs, and various types of shuttlecock (Crosby, 74). They had no types of ridden animals and they chose to use themselves as beasts of burden. Thi... ...lear huge tracts of land. They were able to outcompete their American counterparts and the Amerindians by taking food from them and out-breeding them thus taking up more space. This ca used not just destruction to the land, but also a decline and in some cases, extinction in the native plant and animal species. These animals not only had a destructive effect on their new environments, but also permanently altered the ecology of the Americas thus forever marker their spot in history.Works CitedCrosby, Alfred W. The Columbian Exchange Biological and heathenish Consequences of 1492. Westport, Connecticut Greenwood Publishing Company, 1972.Crosby, Alfred W. Ecological Imperialism The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. New York Cambridge University Press, 1986.Roberts, Neil. The Holocene An environmental History. New York Basil Blackwell, 1989.