On Fri, 17 Nov 1995, M. Smith wrote:
> I believe I've
> seen literature discussing the extinctions of native Hawaiian birds due
> to their native peoples.

Yes, and not just Hawaii, but essentially all human-inhabited islands in
the South Pacific; a paper by DW Steadman (1995; Science 267:1123-1131)
provides an overview of evidence for this. Humans are humans, and
whenever we reach critical population densities organisms go extinct,
period. If Native Americans had a lower impact, it is because they reached
lower overall population densities.

David Wright
dwright at u.washingotn.edu