Human Carrying Capacity of the Brazilian Rainfo- rest. 1986. 61 tabs. 26 figs. XVI,293 p. gr8vo. Cloth.

Brazil's Amazon region, the largest tropical rainforest in the world,is currently being irrevocably replaced with human colonization andagriculture. In this important new contribution to human ecology theoryPhilip Fearnside develops the concept of carrying capacity as a majoranalytical tool for the study of human resource problems in the contextof this colonization. From eleven years of study in the region he details the stresses caused by the conflict between infinite demands andfinite resources. The accelerating deforestation of the region, themotivation behind it, and the environmental and human costs are allexplored in this book and related to recent development trends and possible alternatives.