American Desires for Ecological Independence

美国人试图利用科学和主权来影响什么样的新生物体将生活在他们的国界内。这种兴趣包括进口有前途的外来物种，创造适应美国环境的品种，以及排除外来害虫。借鉴阿尔弗雷德克罗斯比的生态帝国主义的比喻，我把这些担忧称为“美国人对生态独立的渴望”。“我的项目调查了民族自决的这些生物层面的历史。利用园艺学家的大量出版和手稿记录-一个生物技术网络，一直是很少的学术研究的主题-我研究了一系列的关键事件，从革命到现在。其中包括关于北美旧大陆栽培植物退化的争论，对黑森蝇破坏小麦的担忧，创造和定义美国水果的努力，关于大草原造林的讨论，彻底消灭外来害虫如舞毒蛾和地中海果蝇的努力，以及当代控制生物入侵者和恢复本土生态系统的计划。我的重点是美国大陆的温带潮湿地区，但我也考虑，作为一个对比的情况下，佛罗里达州南部的热带边缘。该项目整合了科学，技术，国际关系，环境和民族主义的历史，将为美国人在过去两个世纪中改变非洲大陆物种的方式提供一个新的视角。这将导致一本书，将加深公众对生物技术的地方，广义上的理解，在塑造美国国家。它还将对环境规范的评估产生更有针对性的影响：一项强调科学观点多样性和决策不确定性的学术研究将推动制定合理有效的移栖生物政策。

Americans have sought to use science and sovereignty to influence what new kinds of organisms would live within their national borders. This interest has involved the importation of promising exotic species, the creation of varieties adapted to American environments, and the exclusion of alien pests. Drawing on Alfred Crosby's metaphor of ecological imperialism, I call these concerns "American desires for ecologicalindependence." My project investigates the history of these biotic dimensions of national self-determination. Utilizing the extensive published and manuscript records produced by horticulturists--a biotechnological network that has been the subject of little scholarly research--I examine a series of critical events from the Revolution to the present. These include the debates over the degeneration of cultured Old World plants in North America, fears about the destruction of wheat by the Hessian fly, efforts to create and defineAmerican fruits, discussions regarding the forestation of the prairies, efforts to exterminate completely such alien pests as the gypsy moth and the medfly, and contemporary discussions plans to control biological invaders and to restore native ecosystems. My focus is on the temperate humid regions of the continental United States, but I also consider, as a contrasting case, the outlying tropical margin of southernFlorida. This project, integrating history of science, technology, international relations, environment, and nationalism, will offer a new perspective on the ways Americans have altered the continent's species in the last two centuries. It will result in a book that will deepen public understanding of the place of biotechnology, broadly conceived, in the shaping of the American nation. It will also have a more focused impact on assessments of environmental norms: a scholarly study emphasizing the diversity of scientific perspectives and the uncertainties in decision-making will advance reasoned and effective policies regarding migrating organisms.