We would do well to hear him."—The Washington Post Book WorldArt of the Commonplace gathers twenty essays by Wendell Berry that offer an agrarian alternative to our dominant urban culture. Grouped around five themes—an agrarian critique of culture, agrarian fundamentals, agrarian economics, agrarian religion, and geo-biography—these essays promote a clearly defined and compelling vision important to all people dissatisfied with the stress, anxiety, disease, and destructiveness of contemporary American culture.Why is agriculture becoming culturally irrelevant, and at what cost? What are the forces of social disintegration and how might they be reversed? How might men and women live together in ways that benefit both? And, how does the corporate takeover of social institutions and economic practices contribute to the destruction of human and natural environments?Through his staunch support of local economies, his defense of farming communities, and his call for family integrity, Berry emerges as the champion of responsibilities and priorities that serve the health, vitality and happiness of the whole community of creation.

    In the late 1970s, while working at Marineland in California, Alexandra pioneered the recording of orca sounds by dropping a hydrophone into the tank of two killer whales. She recorded the varied language of mating, childbirth, and even grief after the birth of a stillborn calf. At the same time she made the startling observation that the whales were inventing wonderful synchronized movements, a behavior that was soon recognized as a defining characteristic of orca society. In 1984, Alexandra moved to a remote bay in British Columbia to continue her research with wild orcas. Her recordings of the whales have led her to a deeper understanding of the mystery of whale echolocation, the vocal communication that enables the mammals to find their way in the dark sea. A fascinating study of the profound communion between humans and whales, this book will open your eyes anew to the wonders of the natural world.

    Well-known author, teacher, lecturer, and herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner has produced a book that is certain to generate controversy. It consists of three parts: A critique of technological medicine, and especially the dangers to the environment posed by pharmaceuticals and other synthetic substances that people use in connection with health care and personal body care. A new look at Gaia Theory, including an explanation that plants are the original chemistries of Gaia and those phytochemistries are the fundamental communications network for the Earth's ecosystems. Extensive documentation of how plants communicate their healing qualities to humans and other animals. Western culture has obliterated most people's capacity to perceive these messages, but this book also contains valuable information on how we can restore our faculties of perception. The book will affect readers on rational and emotional planes. It is grounded in both a New Age spiritual sensibility and hard science. While some of the author's claims may strike traditional thinkers as outlandish, Buhner presents his arguments with such authority and documentation that the scientific underpinnings, however unconventional, are completely credible. The overall impact is a powerful, eye-opening expos' of the threat that our allopathic Western medical system, in combination with our unquestioning faith in science and technology, poses to the primary life-support systems of the planet. At a time when we are preoccupied with the terrorist attacks and the possibility of biological warfare, perhaps it is time to listen to the planet. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the state of the environment, the state of health care, and our cultural sanity.

    What begins as an exploration of the lines of thought and experience that run between the massive lynchings in early twentieth-century America to today's death squads in South America soon explodes into an examination of the very heart of our civilization. The Culture of Make Believe is a book that is as impeccably researched as it is moving, with conclusions as far-reaching as they are shocking.

    Through his own example, Jung shows how healing our own living connection with Nature contributes to the whole.

    Yet it is so ravaged by human activity that half its species could be gone by the end of the present century. These two contrasting truths—unexpected magnificence and underestimated peril—have become compellingly clear during the past two decades of research on biological diversity.In this dazzlingly intelligent and ultimately hopeful book, Wilson describes what treasures of the natural world we are about to lose forever—in many cases animals, insects, and plants we have only just discovered, and whose potential to nourish us, protect us, and cure our illnesses is immeasurable—and what we can do to save them. In the process, he explores the ethical and religious bases of the conservation movement and deflates the myth that environmental policy is antithetical to economic growth by illustrating how new methods of conservation can ensure long-term economic well-being.The Future of Life is a magisterial accomplishment: both a moving description of our biosphere and a guidebook for the protection of all its species, including humankind.

    But as architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart point out in this provocative, visionary book, such an approach only perpetuates the one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model, dating to the Industrial Revolution, that creates such fantastic amounts of waste and pollution in the first place. Why not challenge the belief that human industry must damage the natural world? In fact, why not take nature itself as our model for making things? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we consider its abundance not wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective.Waste equals food. Guided by this principle, McDonough and Braungart explain how products can be designed from the outset so that, after their useful lives, they will provide nourishment for something new. They can be conceived as "biological nutrients" that will easily reenter the water or soil without depositing synthetic materials and toxins. Or they can be "technical nutrients" that will continually circulate as pure and valuable materials within closed-loop industrial cycles, rather than being "recycled" -- really, downcycled -- into low-grade materials and uses. Drawing on their experience in (re)designing everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, McDonough and Braungart make an exciting and viable case for putting eco-effectiveness into practice, and show how anyone involved with making anything can begin to do as well.

    David Holmgren brings into sharper focus the powerful and still evolving Permaculture concept he pioneered with Bill Mollison in the 1970s. It draws together and integrates 25 years of thinking and teaching to reveal a whole new way of understanding and action behind a simple set of design principles. The 12 design principles are each represented by a positive action statement, an icon and a traditional proverb or two that captures the essence of each principle.Holmgren draws a correlation between every aspect of how we organize our lives, communities and landscapes and our ability to creatively adapt to the ecological realities that shape human destiny. For students and teachers of Permaculture this book provides something more fundamental and distilled than Mollison's encyclopedic "Designers Manual." For the general reader it provides refreshing perspectives on a range of environmental issues and shows how permaculture is much more than just a system of gardening. For anyone seriously interested in understanding the foundations of sustainable design and culture, this book is essential reading. Although a book of ideas, the big picture is repeatedly grounded by reference to Holmgren's own place, Melliodora, and other practical examples.

    Written in lively, informative language and illustrated with more than two hundred photographs, William Cullina's book is a comprehensive reference to almost one thousand native woody plants. An invaluable guide for naturalists, restorationists, nursery owners, landscape architects, and designers as well as gardeners, it points out that ecological gardening offers specific benefits to the individual as well as the environment. Even more than wildflowers, native trees, shrubs, and vines are essential to providing the food and shelter that attract birds and insects to the garden. And plants that are native to an area are far easier to grow and maintain than ordinary cultivated garden plants. The author's acclaimed companion volume on wildflowers, GROWING AND PROPAGATING WILDFLOWERS, was called "an inspired effort, beautifully written and loaded with useful information" by Robert G. Breunig, director of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Along with that volume, NATIVE TREES, SHRUBS, AND VINES provides a definitive reference to the native plants of the temperate North American continent. And because Cullina writes from personal experience with the plants in his books, he offers information that is considerably more helpful (and more interesting) than the facts one finds in most plant references.

    Suitable for identifying the weird and wonderful crabs, lobsters, shrimps, jellies, sponges, tunicates and mollusks that inhabit the reefs, this edition includes 220 photos of shells, camouflaged crabs, and a collection of nudibranchs and the most outrageous octopus discovered in the Caribbean.

    There's no need to look through dozens of photos of birds that don't live in Georgia. This book features 140 species of Georgia birds, organized by color for ease of use. Do you see a yellow bird and don't know what it is? Go to the yellow section to find out. Fact-filled information, a compare feature, range maps and detailed photographs help to ensure that you positively identify the birds that you see.

    The discovery has been described as "the equivalent of finding a small dinosaur still alive on Earth."

    Now, here surfaces Greetings From Sherman's Lagoon, the answer to the long-time pleas of loyal followers of Sherman the shark and his sea urchin pals. Those who regularly read the silly yet sophisticated strip will enjoy seeing how its art, humor, and characters have evolved. Cartoonist Jim Toomey has mastered the look and personality of the creatures that his readers have come to love: Sherman and his significant-shark-other Megan, Fillmore the turtle, Hawthorne the cranky hermit crab, and other coral critters. Just as early Snoopy drawings more closely resembled a beagle, says Toomey, the characters more closely resemble fish. Toomey adds that his early strips adhered less to story lines and were more focused on delivering a gag-a-day. Longtime fans and newer readers alike are sure to enjoy noting similarities and differences for themselves in this hilarious turn-back-the-clock collection.

    When Rachel Carson published SILENT SPRING, few people knew the meaning of the word "ecology." Even fewer people today probably know the meaning of "zoopharmacognosy." But that is about to change. In WILD HEALTH, Cindy Engel explores the extraordinary range of ways animals keep themselves healthy, carefully separating scientifically verifiable fact from folklore, hard data from daydreams. As with holistic medicine for humans, there turns out to be more fact in folklore than was previously thought. How do animals keep themselves healthy? They eat plants that have medicinal properties. They select the right foods for a nutritionally balanced diet, often doing a better job of it than humans do. Animals even seek out psychoactive substances -- they get drunk on fermented fruit, hallucinate on mushrooms, become euphoric with opium poppies. They also manipulate their own reproduction with plant chemistry, using some plants as aphrodisiacs and others to enhance fertility. WILD HEALTH includes scores of remarkable examples of the ways animals medicate themselves.- Desert tortoises will travel miles to mine and eat the calcium needed to keep their shells strong.- Monkeys, bears, coatis, and other animals rub citrus oils and pungent resins into their coats as insecticides and antiseptics against insect bites.- Chimpanzees swallow hairy leaves folded in a certain way to purge their digestive tracts of parasites.- Birds line their nests with plants that protect their chicks from blood-draining mites and lice. In other words, animals try to keep themselves healthy in many of the same ways humans do; in fact, much of early human medicine, including many practices being revived today as "alternative medicine," arose through observations of animals. And, as WILD HEALTH, animals still have a lot to teach us. We could use a little more wild health ourselves.

    A charismatic and inspiring speaker and writer, LaDuke possesses a stirring passion that comes through in the 30 speeches, articles, and fiction excerpts compiled in The Winona LaDuke Reader. This is the first collection of the many political speeches and "think-pieces" that she has written for magazines such as Sierra, Smithsonian’s American Indian, and more.

    Covering all resident, migrant, and vagrant birds of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, this small and compact guide describes and illustrates a remarkable 1,388 species in convenient facing-page layout. Featuring 287 new color plates with 3,400 images painstakingly rendered by three experienced artists, the guide illustrates all the plumages and major races likely to be encountered. Set opposite the plates are range maps and concise accounts describing identification, status, range, habits, and voice for each species. Introductory sections provide notes on how to use the species accounts, the nomenclature adopted, conservation issues, where to send records, and maps of protected and other important bird areas.Between them, Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe have more than 40 years' experience leading bird tours and conducting conservation work in East Africa. The region shelters a remarkable diversity of birds, including many seriously threatened species with small and vulnerable ranges. The region's birds form a constantly colorful, noisy, and highly extroverted part of the landscape. The book is sure to become an indispensable guide for anyone interested in studying or conserving birds in East Africa, as well as the many visitors who simply want to enjoy the sheer beauty of its birds.First comprehensive field guide to the countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and BurundiCovers 1,388 species, with 3,400 color images on 287 platesConcise species accounts facing the plates describe appearance, status, range, habits, and voiceA color distribution map is given for each speciesInformation on habitats, protected areas, and conservation issuesThe essential guide to the birds of this spectacular region

    

    • Contains interviews with 25 professional animal communicators and over 100 different animals and animal spirits. • Provides a thrilling glimpse of the possibilities of direct animal-human dialogue. According to Echo, an Arabian mare, "Humans are beings of love who have forgotten what love is and who they are." Along with a host of other animal communicators, Dawn Baumann Brunke gives animals like Echo a voice--a direct line of communication to the human mind. Through Animal Voices, the animal kingdom delivers a message about deepening our spirituality and reconnecting with the web of life. Our earliest ancestors had an ongoing shamanic dialogue with the animal kingdom, but this ability has been lost to most in the modern world. Brunke provides the techniques to reopen these connections, reminding us that when we are open to communication with animals, we are open to deeper layers of ourselves. The main contributors to this book are actual animals, who reveal themselves to be sentient beings with their own thoughts, emotions, and spiritual reasons for being on the planet. How Brunke overcame her initial skepticism and learned to hear their voices is a fascinating story. Throughout Animal Voices the author integrates her own reflections with those of the animals she interviews. The result is something that will delight animal lovers and force skeptics to reconsider their ideas about the nature of animal consciousness and the possibility of telepathic human-animal communication.

    Although centuries of human intervention have cleared much of the land, the timeless forest remains in the spirit of the place. Today, even the shortest period of human neglect allows for the resurgence of the process of forest creation. The greatest gardens — and happiest gardeners — in this area will be those that take into account the nature of the land. In his unique, and often thought-provoking new book, award-winning author Darke promotes and stunningly illustrates a garden aesthetic based on the strengths and opportunities of the woodland, including play of light, sound, and scent; seasonal drama; and the architectural interest of woody plants. While written from a compelling and fresh perspective, The American Woodland Garden never strays from the realistic concerns of the everyday gardener. Information on planting, soils, and maintenance provides a firm foundation for horticultural accomplishment. An alphabetical list of woodland plants offers useful advice for every garden, emphasizing native trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, grasses, sedges, and flowering perennials that fit the forest aesthetic. More than 700 of the author's stunning photographs show both the natural palette of plants in the wild and the effects that can be achieved with them in garden settings. Many of the most striking photos in the book were taken at classic gardens that are paragons of an ecological style.The American Woodland Garden is a clarion call to a new awareness of our relationship to the natural world. This book will take its rightful place among the classic works that have influenced our concept of the American landscape.

    This volume seeks to meet the needs of the growing audience of teachers, amateur naturalists, environmentalists, anglers, and others interested in aquatic biology by providing substantive information in non-technical language for nearly 100 of the most common groups of invertebrates found in the inland waters of North America.

    The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal may be the only culture in the world where both shamanic and tantric techniques are still alive and in full practice today. The result of eighteen years of field research, Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of shamanism that is based on the knowledge and experience of the different tribes from that region. Included are original statements from the various ethnic groups and 135 color thangkas, which act as visual guides to the specific practices of the tantric tradition. In addition to the thangkas, the book is lavishly illustrated with numerous photos of different shamanic healing ceremonies, ritual objects, and culturally significant plants that have never been published before. The book also contains a wealth of original recipes, smoking mixtures, scientific tables, charts, and descriptions of more than 20 plants whose psychoactive properties and uses by shamans have never before been researched or documented.

    Also called the white, ghost, or spirit bear, it has long been the subject of myth, curiosity, and fascination to humans. Until recently, these animals had never been exposed to civilization.Now reissued with a new introduction by the author, Spirit Bear is the story of Charles Russell's quest to forge a unique relationship of mutual trust with the rare spirit bear of Princess Royal Island. Russell was on the island to help Jeff and Sue Turner with their film, Island of the Ghost Bear. During the course of the shoot, he became intrigued with, and eventually befriended the shy young Spirit Bear who was the subject of the film.Russell has spent many years studying bears in their natural habitat. In this book he describes his early encounters, shared with his father, well-known writer Andy Russell, with bears in the Rockies and Alaska, and his encounters with grizzlies in British Columbia's Khutzeymateen Valley.This wonderful book, which is illustrated with 100 breathtaking color photographs, is part of an ongoing effort by conservationists to save Princess Royal Island as a sanctuary for the Kermode bear.

    This fun activity book immerses children in vulture culture, hawk talk, and owl prowls as they learn about the behavior and hunting strategies of these fascinating birds. A removable “pocket spy guide” will help kids identify raptors in the wild, while breed profiles, flight silhouettes, range maps, and real-life stories will satisfy even the most voracious raptor enthusiast.

    This is a fascinating story, told with humor and passion, of forests battling prairies for dominance; of grasslands plowed, wetlands drained, and species driven to extinction in the settlement of the Midwest; and of caring conservationists fighting to preserve and restore the native plants and animals. Intermingling historical anecdotes and episodes straight from the words of early settlers and naturalists with current scientific information, Greenberg places the natural history of the region in a human context, showing how it affects our everyday existence in even the most urbanized landscape of Chicago.

    It includes more than 250 profound and startling photographs and gathers together more than 40 essays by leading ecological thinkers including Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, David Ehrenfeld, Helena NorbergHodge, Vandana Shiva, and Gary Nabhan. Its scope and photo-driven approach provide a unique and invaluable antidote to the efforts by agribusiness to obscure and disconnect us from the truth about industrialized foods.

    Hauk, a biodynamic gardener and beekeeper for more than twenty-five years, approaches the bee “as a sick patient who has been trying for years to signal to us the deep crises of its diminishing life forces and its increasing inability to resonate with the environment.” Hauk presents the bee colony as a complex and delicate organism, with a life and vital functions far beyond the production of honey. Construction of the hive, colony hierarchy, swarming, as well as foul brood, mites, and disease are all discussed in the context of the hive as a whole.

    In order for ecopsychology to be a force for social change, Andy Fisher insists it must become a more comprehensive and critical undertaking. Drawing masterfully from humanistic psychology, hermeneutics, phenomenology, radical ecology, nature writing, and critical theory, he develops a compelling account of how the human psyche still belongs to nature. This daring and innovative book proposes a psychology that will serve all life, providing a solid base not only for ecopsychological practice, but also for a critical theory of modern society.

    The information is easily searchable, with cross indexing of chemical structures, trivial names, plants names, and plant family names. The introduction gives information about isoquinolines, and how this book is put together. There are journal references, and an appendix explaining isobenzofuranone nomenclature.

    Featured contributors include Jamaica Kincaid, bell hooks, Francisco X. Alarcon, Yusef Komunyakaa, Diane Glancy, and others.

    These magnificent structures-known as stepwells or stepped ponds-are much more than utilitarian reservoirs. Their lattice-like walls, carved columns, decorated towers, and intricate sculpture make them exceptional architecture., while their very presence tells much about the region's ecology and history. For these past 500 years, stepwells have been an integral part of western Indian communities as sites for drinking, washing, and bathing, as well as for colorful festivals and sacred rituals. Steps to Water traces the fascinating history of stepwells, from their Hindu origins, to their zenith during Muslim rule, and eventual decline under British occupation. It also reflects on their current use, preservation, and place in Indian communities. In stunning color and quadtone photographs and drawings, Steps to Water reveals the depth of the stepwells' beauty and their intricate details, and serves as a lens on these fascinating cultural and architectural monuments.

    Darwin's ruminations on the Galapagos Islands, Thoreau's communion with Walden Pond, and Rachel Carson's evocation of the rocky coast of Maine are monuments in the history of writing and thought. No less significant are the searching essays of such contemporary writers as Wendell Berry, Terry Tempest Williams, Annie Dillard, and Bill McKibben. Nature Writing: The Tradition in English, includes 152 selections by 132 authors. This is the definitive collection of a many-voiced genre that has flourished in England and America for over two hundred years.Here one will find such classic selections as William Bartram's parley with crocodiles in south Florida, John Hay's exchange with a dying Arctic dovekie, and John Muir's riding out a mountain windstorm in the branches of a lofty Douglas spruce.New essays by Vladimir Nabokov, Scott Sanders, David Quammen, and Gary Snyder have been included, along with selections by such writers as David Abram, Diane Ackerman, Rick Bass, Jane Brox, John Daniel, Trudy Dittmar, Linda Hasselstrom, Ray Gonzalez, and Sharman Apt Russell. The editors of this volume have taken a special interest in including writers of color, as well as authors from many parts of the English-speaking world. Recently rediscovered works of a number of earlier writers, especially those of nineteenth-century women, also expand the range of this collection.Nature Writing: The Tradition in English displays nature in all the incarnations—enticing, chaotic, generous, cruel, mysterious, and heartbreaking—that have inspired men and women to portray it in words. The variety and strength of these selections represent one of the most significant and original literary achievements of our culture.Never before have our encounters with the natural world been imbued with so much peril and so much possibility. By listening to the voices of those who have observed and reflected upon that world so powerfully, we are all enriched.Gilbert White • William Bartram • Meriwether Lewis • John James Audubon • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Charles Darwin • Susan Fenimore Cooper • Henry David Thoreau • Walt Whitman • Samuel Clemens • John Muir • Mabel Osgood Wright • Ernest Thompson Seton • Luther Standing Bear • Rockwell Kent • Virginia Woolf Isak Dinesen • D. H. Lawrence • Aldo Leopold • Vladimir Nabokov • Sigurd Olson • Edwin Way Teale • E. B. White • René Dubos • Norman Maclean • John Steinbeck • George Orwell • Laurens Van Der Post • Rachel Carson • Loren Eiseley • Wallace Stegner • Lewis Thomas • John Hay • Thomas Merton • Faith McNulty • Farley Mowat • Maxine Kumin • Ann Haymond Zwinger • Edward Abbey • Peter Matthiessen • Gary Snyder • Edward O. Wilson • John McPhee • Edward Hoagland • Wendell Berry • Sue Hubbell • Jim Harrison • William Least Heat-Moon Bruce Chatwin • Maxine Hong Kingston • Linda Hasselstrom • Trudy Dittmar • Alice Walker • Rick Bass • Annie Dillard • Barry Lopez • Scott Sanders • David Rains Wallace • Alison Deming • Gretel Ehrlich • Emily Hiestand • Linda Hogan • Diane Ackerman • John Daniel • David Quammen • Jamaica Kincaid • Ray Gonzales • Gary Paul Nabhan • Louise Erdrich • David Mas Masumoto • Sharman Apt Russell • Terry Tempest Williams • Jane Brox • Bill McKibben • Janisse Ray • David Abram • Freeman House • Barbara Kingsolver • Ellen Meloy • Doug Peacock • Michael Pollan

    TaylorIs there a place for animals in the moral consideration of nature? by Eric KatzCan animal rights activists be environmentalists? by Gary E. VarnerAgainst the moral considerability of ecosystems by Harley CahenThe varieties of intrinsic value by John O'NeillValue in nature and the nature of value by Holmes Rolston IIIThe source and locus of intrinsic value : a reexamination by Keekok LeeEnvironmental ethics and weak anthropocentrism by Bryan G. NortonWeak anthropocentric intrinsic value by Eugene HargroveMoral pluralism and the course of environmental ethics by Christopher D. StoneThe case against moral pluralism by J. Baird CallicottMinimal, moderate, and extreme moral pluralism by Peter S. WenzThe case for a practical pluralism by Andrew LightDeep ecology : a new philosophy of our time? by Warwick FoxThe deep ecological movement : some philosophical aspects by Arne NaessEcofeminism : toward global justice and planetary health by Greta Gaard and Lori GruenEcological feminism and ecosystem ecology by Karen J. Warren and Jim CheneyBeyond intrinsic value : pragmatism in environmental ethics by Anthony WestonPragmatism in environmental ethics : democracy, pluralism, and the management of nature by Ben A. Minteer and Robert E. ManningThe ethics of sustainable resources by Donald SchererToward a just and sustainable economic order by John B. Cobb, Jr.Ethics, public policy, and global warming by Dale JamiesonFaking nature by Robert ElliotThe big lie : human restoration of nature by Eric KatzEcological restoration and the culture of nature : a pragmatic perspective by Andrew LightAn amalgamation of wilderness preservation arguments by Michael P. NelsonA critique of and an alternative to the wilderness area by J. Baird CallicottWilderness--now more than ever : a response to Callicott by Reed F. NossFeeding people versus saving nature? by Holmes Rolston IIISaving nature, feeding people, and ethics by Robin AttfieldIntegrating environmentalism and human rights by James W. Nickel and Eduardo ViolaEnvironmental justice : an environmental civil rights value acceptable to all world views by Troy W. HartleySustainability and intergenerational justice by Brian BarryDemocracy and sense of place values in environmental policy by Bryan G. Norton and Bruce HannonEnvironmental awareness and liberal education by Andrew Brennan

    That fact underpins the developing field of ecological stoichiometry, the study of the balance of chemical elements in ecological interactions. This long-awaited book brings this field into its own as a unifying force in ecology and evolution. Synthesizing a wide range of knowledge, Robert Sterner and Jim Elser show how an understanding of the biochemical deployment of elements in organisms from microbes to metazoa provides the key to making sense of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.After summarizing the chemistry of elements and their relative abundance in Earth's environment, the authors proceed along a line of increasing complexity and scale from molecules to cells, individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems. The book examines fundamental chemical constraints on ecological phenomena such as competition, herbivory, symbiosis, energy flow in food webs, and organic matter sequestration. In accessible prose and with clear mathematical models, the authors show how ecological stoichiometry can illuminate diverse fields of study, from metabolism to global change.Set to be a classic in the field, Ecological Stoichiometry is an indispensable resource for researchers, instructors, and students of ecology, evolution, physiology, and biogeochemistry. From the foreword by Peter Vitousek: ? [T]his book represents a significant milestone in the history of ecology. . . . Love it or argue with it--and I do both--most ecologists will be influenced by the framework developed in this book. . . . There are points to question here, and many more to test . . . And if we are both lucky and good, this questioning and testing will advance our field beyond the level achieved in this book. I can't wait to get on with it.

    But centuries of pollution and other abuse have gradually been killing off its marine life and have pushed the Sound to the brink of disaster. This fascinating book traces the history of the Sound and its use as a resource from the time of contact between the Native Americans and Dutch traders through the suburban sprawl of recent decades—and tells how a group of scientists and citizens has been working to save the Sound from ruin.Tom Andersen begins by describing the dramatic events of the summer of 1987, when a condition called hypoxia (lack of dissolved oxygen in the water brought about by a combination of pollution and other factors) killed large numbers of fish and lobsters in the Sound. He discusses how scientists first documented and explained the development of hypoxia and how research and cleanup are now being carried out to restore the Sound. Interweaving current events, natural history, and human history, Andersen presents a cautionary tale of exploitation without concern for preservation.

    Vivid maps and spectacular artwork span the continents to illuminate eight distinct habitats and reveal the survival secrets of their eclectic inhabitants.Astounding three-dimensional maps show where each habitat is found and introduce the array of animals that live there.From the vast Sahara desert to the steaming Florida everglades to the icy Eurasian tundra, adventurous readers will tour the world to meet ferocious cats, gigantic rodents, meat-eating fish, and wily reptiles -- plus myriad mammals, birds of all feathers, and swarms of insects. At every stop, they'll learn vital facts of survival: what each individual animal eats and how each habitat's diverse creatures manage to live together.-- Detailed cutaway illustrations explain how and why each habitat supports its wildlife, with a fascinating look at intricate food webs.-- Side panels call attention to key environmental issues, including threats from humans.-- More than 1,000 animals featured in an A-Z guide to the world's major animals -- each one illustrated with a full-color, specially commissioned illustration.

    Journey to the depths of the ocean floor with genetically engineered human beings ... push the boundaries of life with a scientist obsessed with death ... and watch as sentient gaseous entities offer destruction and salvation to the human race. Nine stories make up this stunning new collection from a rising talent in the field of Science Fiction.Contents:A Niche (1990)Fractals (1995)The Second Coming of Jasmine Fitzgerald (1998)Bulk Food (2000) with Laurie ChannerNimbus (1994)Flesh Made Word (1994)Ambassador (2001)Bethlehem (1996)Home (1999)

    Just as important as an understanding of our environment, is an understanding of ourselves, of the kinds of beings we are and why we act as we do. In Loving Nature Kay Milton considers why some people in Western societies grow up to be nature lovers, actively concerned about the welfare and future of plants, animals, ecosystems and nature in general, while others seem indifferent or intent on destroying these things. Drawing on findings and ideas from anthropology, psychology, cognitive science and philosophy, the author discusses how we come to understand nature as we do, and above all, how we develop emotional commitments to it. Anthropologists, in recent years, have tended to suggest that our understanding of the world is shaped solely by the culture in which we live. Controversially Kay Milton argues that it is shaped by direct experience in which emotion plays an essential role. The author argues that the conventional opposition between emotion and rationality in western culture is a myth. The effect of this myth has been to support a market economy which systematically destroys nature, and to exclude from public decision making the kinds of emotional attachments that support more environmentally sensitive ways of living. A better understanding of ourselves, as fundamentally emotional beings, could give such ways of living the respect they need.

    The text is presented in an easy-to-follow format with main points and terms clearly highlighted. Each chapter concludes with a concise summary, which together with worked examples, problems and answers, emphasize the key principles covered. Text boxes containing interesting case studies and other additional information enrich the content throughout. Over 100 beautiful pen and ink portraits of endangered species help bring the material to life.

    Personal stories of urban and rural living reveal the many varieties of experience and how Western culture has created both immense wealth and poverty. Discussions of primary production, neoclassical economics, and international trade agreements accompany writing about nature and how rural life is deeply connected to land.

    Written with exceptional clarity, Down to Earth re-envisions the story of America from the ground up. It reveals how focusing on plants, animals, climate, and other ecological factors can radically change the way that we think about the past. Examining such familiar topics as colonization, the industrial revolution, slavery, the Civil War, and the emergence of modern-day consumer culture, Steinberg recounts how the natural world influenced the course of human history. From the colonists' attempts to impose order on the land to modern efforts to sell the wilderness as a consumer good, the author reminds readers that many critical episodes in our history were, in fact, environmental events. He highlights the ways in which we have attempted to reshape and control nature, from Thomas Jefferson's surveying plan, which divided the national landscape into a grid, to the transformation of animals, crops, and even water into commodities. The text is ideal for courses in environmental history, environmental studies, urban studies, economic history, and American history. Passionately argued and thought-provoking, Down to Earth retells our nation's history with nature in the foreground--a perspective that will challenge our view of everything from Jamestown to Disney World.

    It is an inspiring and stimulating book for anyone who cares about Earth and is concerned about the direction in which the human species is moving.

    These vivid stories of encounters with animals, wretched weather, fear, humility, and ultimately, with spirit are gritty and as down to earth as it gets. New material from David Whyte, Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry, Nancy Wood, Deena Metzger, and Laura Carithers add an additional ten pages to this second edition.

    From Neolithic times through the earliest civilizations of the ancient Near East, in savannahs, river valleys and the terraces created by the Incas in the Andean mountains, an increasing range of agricultural techniques have developed in response to very different conditions. These developments are recounted in this book, with detailed attention to the ways in which plants, animals, soil, climate, and society have interacted.Mazoyer and Roudart's A History of World Agriculture is a path-breaking and panoramic work, beginning with the emergence of agriculture after thousands of years in which human societies had depended on hunting and gathering, showing how agricultural techniques developed in the different regions of the world, and how this extraordinary wealth of knowledge, tradition and natural variety is endangered today by global capitialism, as it forces the unequal agrarian heritages of the world to conform to the norms of profit. During the twentieth century, mechanization, motorization and specialization have brought to a halt the pattern of cultural and environmental responses that characterized the global history of agriculture until then. Today a small number of corporations have the capacity to impose the farming methods on the planet that they find most profitable. Mazoyer and Roudart propose an alternative global strategy that can safegaurd the economies of the poor countries, reinvigorate the global economy, and create a livable future for mankind.

    

    Vivid close-up art, simple text, and field notes in the back make this both fun and educational for children.

    Did you know that termites have built nests almost 7m (23ft) high; that octopi can change colour to suit a variety of situations; and that the Madagascan butterfly protects itself by mimicking the head of a venomous snake? You'll find masses of fascinating facts such as these in the vivid, colourful pages of this book. The book is packed with hundreds of natural wonders that will fill you with wonder: plants that can carry electical currents, a volcano almost as high as Mount Everest, and the amazing journeys of sea turtles, salmon and caribou on their annual treks to breeding and spawning grounds. Illustrated with more than 600 magnificent photographs that capture the splendour of the natural world, this book also includes time lapse and freeze-frame sequences, along with superb diagams to explain, for example, how animals move, feed and build their houses, how a storm builds and how a shark senses its prey. This is an illuminating guide to the wonders of nature that will excite and intrigue the whole family.

    Concern about consumption emerges, if at all, in benign ways; as calls for green purchasing or more recycling, or for small changes in production processes. Many academics, policymakers, and journalists, in fact, accept the economists' view of consumption as nothing less than the purpose of the economy. Yet many people have a troubled, intuitive understanding that tinkering at the margins of production and purchasing will not put society on an ecologically and socially sustainable path.Confronting Consumption places consumption at the center of debate by conceptualizing the consumption problem and documenting diverse efforts to confront it. In Part 1, the book frames consumption as a problem of political and ecological economy, emphasizing core concepts of individualization and commoditization. Part 2 develops the idea of distancing and examines transnational chains of consumption in the context of economic globalization. Part 3 describes citizen action through local currencies, home power, voluntary simplicity, ad-busting, and product certification. Together, the chapters propose cautious consuming and better producing as an activist and policy response to environmental problems. The book concludes that confronting consumption must become a driving focus of contemporary environmental scholarship and activism.

    Here she provides her many young fans with what they yearn for most -- her advice on how to promote change and improve the health of the planet, distilled into an essential handbook. This book will be accessible to school-aged children, while accomodating the audience of parents and teachers who look to Julia as an example of how one person can "change the world." Packed with a variety of charts, diagrams, and interesting factoids, the book will be broken down into a series of steps and easy-to-follow lessons. It will be written broadly so as to accommodate all kinds of activism, though its core focus will be on environmental issues.