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The Natural History of the Shire Highlands

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An Environmental History of Southern Malawi

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History ((PSWEH))

Abstract

In this chapter Morris offers a detailed account of the geomorphology, climate, vegetation types and animal life of the Shire Highlands. In recent years, environmental historians have been emphasizing that African landscapes are anthropogenic; that is, largely the product of human activities. With respect to the Brachystegia woodlands of the highlands this was something that Morris was emphasizing over forty years ago. For the floristic composition of these woodlands varies not only according to specific factors—such as altitude, rainfall, drainage and soil type; it also varies from one acre to another, each ‘plot’ having its own individual history, due to past human activity. Morris also gives an illuminating account of the decline of the larger mammal in the Shire Highlands over the past century.

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  1. Goldsmiths University, University of London, London, UK

    Brian Morris

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Morris, B. (2016). The Natural History of the Shire Highlands. In: An Environmental History of Southern Malawi. Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45258-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45258-6_2

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