From bobolinks to bears: interjecting geographical history into ecologicalstudies, environmental interpretation, and conservation planning

In these days of supercomputer-based global climate models, large ecosystem experiments including Biosphere II, and aircraft-borne sensors of ozone ho les it is often overlooked that many fundamental insights into ecological p rocesses and major environmental issues come not through reductionist or hi gh-tech studies of modern conditions but from thoughtful consideration of n ature's history. In fact, it is foolhardy to make any ecological interpreta tion of modern landscapes or environments or to formulate policy in conserv ation or natural resource management without an historical context that ext ends back decades, at least, but preferably centuries or millennia. Oftenti mes, the ecological and conservation communities, in their search for more detail on the present and simulation of the future, appear to have forgotte n the value of a deep historical perspective in research and application. H owever, the willingness of the geographical sciences to embrace broad tempo ral and spatial perspectives and to consider cultural as well as natural pr ocesses is worth emulating as we address environmental subjects in the new millennium.