The Great Barrier Reef by James Bowen and Margarita Bowen, Cambridge, 拢40, ISBN 0521824303 Reviewed by David Williams
CONTROVERSY swirls as strongly as the ocean tides around the ecological status of the Great Barrier Reef. Some who have seen substantial changes worry that humans are degrading the ecosystem. There is evidence to back this up. Analyses of coral cores suggest that the amount of sediment from the coastal area deposited on the nearshore zone of the reef increased swiftly after farmers and ranchers began sheep and cattle farming 130 years ago. Others who have seen cyclical changes in reef systems are more sanguine. Geologists point out that the Great Barrier Reef was dry land just 10,000 years ago and will probably be dry again soon 鈥� in geological time, that is. What emerges is the fact that our perceptions are strongly influenced by the time-frame of our observations.
James Bowen and Margarita Bowen lament that modern science is dominated by what they call 鈥減resentism鈥�: 鈥淭en years ago for many is ancient history and considered of no use in current research.鈥� Similarly, Jeremy Jackson and others recently pointed out 鈥� in a review of overfishing impacts on coastal ecosystems 鈥� that most ecological research is based on short-term studies after the 1950s and lacks a longer-term historical perspective. In The Great Barrier Reef, the Bowens present a coherent, integrated account of the history of the reef, its science, exploitation and culture. Along the way, they explore diverse historical records including development and decline of fisheries for pearlshell clams, sea cucumbers, the trochus marine snail, dugongs and turtles.
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This book has an enormous historical scope and much detail, from the Dauphin map of 1550, which outlined the coastline of Australia 220 years before Captain Cook鈥檚 discovery of the 鈥淟abrinth鈥�, to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority鈥檚 current Representative Areas Program. It would be a useful reference for its breadth and detail alone, but is made far more interesting through the authors鈥� interests in the history of ideas and of environmental and scientific thought. The Great Barrier Reef has had a substantial role in these histories and they develop these links well.
Some readers will find the passion of the authors distracting, others will embrace it. Either way, this book is comprehensive, scholarly and highly readable, and will be a key reference for the history, science and culture of the Great Barrier Reef for a long time to come.