Inventing Nature: Forests, Forestry, and State Power in Renaissance Venice

Appuhn, Karl

doi:10.1086/318548

Cited by 41 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Timber shortage was early on reported as a critical issue, especially for naval shipyards (Perlin, 2005). However, this shortage was due to very specific requirements, e.g., long sailing masts or specially shaped oak wood for the body, and not because of a general lack of timber (Appuhn, 2000;Radkau, 2012). Shipbuilding demand was estimated to be around 1 % of the total wood demand by the end of the 1700s, with a lower demand in earlier periods (Warde, 2006).…”

Section: Timber Production (1600-1828)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing European forest management from 1600 to 2010

McGrath¹,

Luyssaert²,

Meyfroidt³

et al. 2015

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Because of the slow accumulation and long residence time of carbon in biomass and soils, the present state and future dynamics of temperate forests are influenced by management that took place centuries to millennia ago. Humans have exploited the forests of Europe for fuel, construction materials and fodder for the entire Holocene. In recent centuries, economic and demographic trends led to increases in both forest area and management intensity across much of Europe. In order to quantify the effects of these changes in forests and to provide a baseline for studies on future land-cover-climate interactions and biogeochemical cycling, we created a temporally and spatially resolved reconstruction of European forest management from 1600 to 2010. For the period 1600-1828, we took a supply-demand approach, in which supply was estimated on the basis of historical annual wood increment and land cover reconstructions. We made demand estimates by multiplying population with consumption factors for construction materials, household fuelwood, industrial food processing and brewing, metallurgy, and salt production. For the period 1829-2010, we used a supply-driven backcasting method based on national and regional statistics of forest age structure from the second half of the 20th century. Our reconstruction reproduces the most important changes in forest management between 1600 and 2010: (1) an increase of 593 000 km 2 in conifers at the expense of deciduous forest (decreasing by 538 000 km 2 ); (2) a 612 000 km 2 decrease in unmanaged forest; (3) a 152 000 km 2 decrease in coppice management; (4) a 818 000 km 2 increase in high-stand management; and (5) the rise and fall of litter raking, which at its peak in 1853 resulted in the removal of 50 Tg dry litter per year.

show abstract

Section: Timber Production (1600-1828)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing European forest management from 1600 to 2010

McGrath¹,

Luyssaert²,

Meyfroidt³

et al. 2015

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, this shortage was due to very specific requirements, e.g., long sailing masts or specially shaped oak wood for the body, and not because of a general lack of timber (Appuhn, 2000;Radkau, 2012). Shipbuilding demand was estimated to be around 1 % of the total wood demand by the end of the 1700s, with a lower demand in earlier periods (Warde, 2006).…”

Section: Timber Production (1600-1828)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing European forest management from 1600 to 2010

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Because of the slow accumulation and long residence time of carbon in biomass and soils, the present state and future dynamics of temperate forests are influenced by management that took place centuries to millennia ago. Humans have exploited the forests of Europe for fuel, construction materials and fodder for the entire Holocene. In recent centuries, economic and demographic trends led to increases in both forest area and management intensity across much of Europe. In order to quantify the effects of these changes in forests and to provide a baseline for studies on future land-cover-climate interactions and biogeochemical cycling, we created a temporally and spatially resolved reconstruction of European forest management from 1600 to 2010. For the period 1600-1828, we took a supply-demand approach, in which supply was estimated on the basis of historical annual wood increment and land cover reconstructions. We made demand estimates by multiplying population with consumption factors for construction materials, household fuelwood, industrial food processing and brewing, metallurgy, and salt production. For the period 1829-2010, we used a supply-driven backcasting method based on national and regional statistics of forest age structure from the second half of the 20th century. Our reconstruction reproduces the most important changes in forest management between 1600 and 2010: (1) an increase of 593 000 km 2 in conifers at the expense of deciduous forest (decreasing by 538 000 km 2 ); (2) a 612 000 km 2 decrease in unmanaged forest; (3) a 152 000 km 2 decrease in coppice management; (4) a 818 000 km 2 increase in high-stand management; and (5) the rise and fall of litter raking, which at its peak in 1853 resulted in the removal of 50 Tg dry litter per year.

show abstract

“…The depletion of forests in order to build systems of communication (footpaths, vehicular roads), urbanization (towns, cities) and special edifications (mostly churches but also government seats), however, reflects an abstract discourse more than pragmatic evidence of the fear of God given man's abuse of nature (Crosby 1986, Grove 1996. A paradigmatic example is the construction of Venetia (see Appuhn 2000).…”

Section: The Middle Agesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unfurling western notions of nature and Amerindian alternatives

Zent¹

2015

Ethics. Sci. Environ. Polit.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This essay presents an overview of the concept of 'nature'. It provides some reflections on the heterogeneity of notions and values subsumed in the term nature in a portion of the Western tradition (from Ancient Greece-Rome through the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment to the present day). The paper explores, in a diachronic, non-comprehensive fashion, the various connotations and conceptions given to the term nature, highlighting the socio-ecological risks that occur when ecological notions are extrapolated worldwide as if they were standard ones. It also reveals that such philosophical plurality is a historical as well as a contemporary phenomenon. The heterogeneity of notions in Western and Amerindian traditions should, ideally, be linked to pragmatic strategies geared toward the construction of improved contemporary environmental ethics.

show abstract

Inventing Nature: Forests, Forestry, and State Power in Renaissance Venice

Cited by 41 publications

References 6 publications

Reconstructing European forest management from 1600 to 2010

Reconstructing European forest management from 1600 to 2010

Reconstructing European forest management from 1600 to 2010

Unfurling western notions of nature and Amerindian alternatives

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About