This volume aims to present the essential work of geographer and historical ecologist William M. Denevan to explain the impact and influence his thinking had on the conceptual advancement not only in his own discipline, but in a range of related disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology, and environmental history. The book is organized around eight themes, demonstrating Denevan's early and profound insights on topics that remain of current relevance today, and the scholarly impact his writing had on subsequent scholarship. The book is unique because it offers commentary from active scholars who address the impacts of Prof. Denevan's thinking and work on contemporary environmental and ecological issues, with a focus on several groundbreaking themes (e.g. historical demography, agricultural landforms, cultural plant geography, human environmental impacts, indigenous agro-ecology, tropical agriculture, livestock and landscape, and synthetic contributions). This book will be of interest to a range of scholars in geography, anthropology, archaeology, history, and ecology, as well as to environmental managers and practitioners, especially those working for non-profit organizations and government organizations tasked with finding ways to adapt to global environmental change.

Dr. Antoinette M.G.A. WinklerPrins is the Deputy Division Director of the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences in the Directorate of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Prior to becoming the Deputy Division Director, she was a Program Director of the Geography and Spatial Sciences program in the division she now directs. She holds a Ph.D. in geography, with a minor in soil science, from the University of Wisconsin,Madison, and a Master's in urban planning and Bachelor's in geography from the University of Michigan. Dr. WinklerPrins' academic research has focused on environmental knowledge systems, smallholder agriculture, agrobiodiversity, livelihoods, and sustainable livelihoods in urban and rural areas of developing countries. Much of her research has been conducted in the Brazilian Amazon, but she has also been involved in research projects in Kenya, Mexico, and the U.S.A. She has investigated networks of agrobiodiversity maintenance and has looked at how Amazonian Dark Earths (fertile anthropogenic soils) were created in the past, how they may be recreated in the future, and their implication for conservation and development for the Amazon region. Prior to joining NSF Dr. WinklerPrins was on the faculty of Michigan State University's Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences and continues to serve as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Kent Mathewson is retired Fred B. Kniffen Professor in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University. He holds a Ph.D. and a Master's in Geography from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Mathewson's main areas of research and teaching have been in the history of geography, cultural and historical geography of the American South and Latin America, and Atlantic Studies. His field research and publications include work on ancient and traditional agriculture in Latin America, food security in the Caribbean, and botanical elements of the African diaspora. His research and publications in the history of geography include studies of the work of Latin Americanist geographers including Alexander von Humboldt, Élisée Reclus, and Carl O. Sauer. He has served as book review editor of various journals, including the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Historical Geography, Geographical Review, and the AAG Review of Books.