Landscapes have been fundamental
to the human experience world-wide and throughout time, yet how did we as human
beings evolve or co-evolve with our landscapes?
By answering this question, we can understand our place in the complex,
ever-changing world that we inhabit.

This
book guides readers on a journey through the concurrent processes of change in
an integrated natural-cultural history of a landscape. While outlining the general principles for
global application, a richly illustrated case is offered through the Mariana
Islands in the northwest tropical Pacific and furthermore situated in a larger
Asia-Pacific context for a full comprehension of landscape evolution at
variable scales. The author examines what
happened during the first time when human beings encountered the world's Remote
Oceanic environment in the Mariana Islands about 3500 years ago, followed by a
continuous sequence of changing sea level, climate, water resources, forest
composition, human population growth, and social dynamics. This book provides a high-resolution and
long-term view of the complexities of landscape evolution that affect all of us
today.