Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses. Robin Wall Kimmerer's book is not an identification guide, nor is it a scientific treatise. Rather, it is a series of linked personal essays that will lead general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings, from salmon and hummingbirds to redwoods and rednecks. Kimmerer clearly and artfully explains the biology of mosses, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us.Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, teacher, and writer of Native American heritage, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses in scientific terms as well as in the framework of indigenous ways of knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.Gathering Moss will appeal to a wide range of readers, from bryologists to those interested in natural history and the environment, Native Americans, and contemporary nature and science writing.

    How to find, identify, measure, and interpret the clues mammals leave behind--explained and illustrated like never before. Includes essays that contextualize tracking as a developing science continually garnering more interest and participation; included also are instructive anecdotes from the author's work as a tracker and wildlife expert. An invaluable resource for beginning or professional trackers and wildlife enthusiasts in all North American locations.

    It deals in depth with structural, interpersonal and leadership issues, decision-making methods, vision statements, and the development of a legal structure, as well as profiling well-established model communities. This exhaustive guide includes excellent sample documents among its wealth of resources.Diana Leafe Christian is the editor of Communities magazine and has contributed to Body & Soul, Yoga Journal, and Shaman’s Drum, among others. She is a popular public speaker and workshop leader on forming intentional communities, and has been interviewed about the subject on NPR. She is a member of an intentional community in North Carolina.

    Moths are illustrated in their natural resting postures, and there are also paintings of different forms, underwings and other details to help with identification. New descriptions and illustrations have been included for species that have been newly recorded in Britain and Ireland since the last edition of the guide was published. The text descriptions of all other species - covering field characters and similar species, flight season, life cycle, larval foodplants, and habitat - have been revised and updated where necessary, and particular attention has been paid to updating the distribution information, which is now supported by maps. The revised general introduction explains how the methods of identifying and recording moths have evolved over recent years with the advent of new technologies and as a result of data analysis.

    Full-page photos, detailed descriptions, Stan's Notes and range maps help to ensure correct I.D.

    Caillois was part of the Surrealist avant-garde and in the 1930s founded the College of Sociology with Georges Bataille and Michel Leiris. He spent his life exploring issues raised by this famous group and by Surrealism itself. Though his subjects were diverse, Caillois focused on concerns crucial to modern intellectual life, and his essays offer a unique perspective on many of twentieth-century France’s most significant intellectual movements and figures. Including a masterful introductory essay by Claudine Frank situating his work in the context of his life and intellectual milieu, this anthology is the first comprehensive introduction to Caillois’s work to appear in any language.These thirty-two essays with commentaries strike a balance between Caillois’s political and theoretical writings and between his better known works, such as the popular essays on the praying mantis, myth, and mimicry, and his lesser-known pieces. Presenting several new pieces and drawing on interviews and unpublished correspondence, this book reveals Caillois’s consistent effort to reconcile intellectual rigor and imaginative adventure. Perhaps most importantly, The Edge of Surrealism provides an overdue look at how Caillois’s intellectual project intersected with the work of Georges Bataille and others including Breton, Bachelard, Benjamin, Lacan, and Lévi-Strauss.

    They are increasingly being used as a model organism for studying a wide range of ecological and behavioural concepts, such as social organization, optimal foraging theories, host-parasite interactions, and pollination. Recently they have become a focus for conservationists due to mounting evidence of range contractions and catastrophic extinctions with some species disappearing from entire continents (e.g. in North America). Only by improving our understanding of their ecology can we devise sensible plans to conserve them. The role of bumblebees as invasive species (e.g. Bombus terrestris in Japan) has also become topical with the growing trade in commercial bumblebee nests for tomato pollination leading to establishment of non-native bumblebees in a number of countries.Since the publication of the first edition of the book, there have been hundreds of research papers published on bumblebees. There is clearly a continuing need for an affordable, well-illustrated, and appealing text that makes accessible all of the major advances in understanding of the behaviour and ecology of bumblebees that have been made in the last 30 years.

    From his unusually detailed observations of the natural world, he pioneered a completely new understanding of how nature works. He also foresaw, and tried to warn against, the global waste and ecological destruction of our age. This book describes and explains Schauberger's insights in contemporary, accessible language. His remarkable discoveries -- which address issues such as sick water, ailing forests, climate change and, above all, renewable energy -- have dramatic implications for how we should work with nature and its resources.

    There are more than 10,000 varieties of wildflowers in North America, some rare, some so plentiful that they are designated as invasive weeds. Each has a unique story.There's Bouncing Bet, a perennial common along the roads and railroad tracks of America. Like many of our most abundant summer wildflowers, Bet was brought over to fill colonial gardens. It's a beautiful plant, but also a useful one. Open up the stalk and its sap makes a fine soap. Colonial beermakers used to put a dab in to help the head on a brew. Doctors used it to wash wounds. Generally considered a weed, it's everywhere.Or Coltsfoot, which pops up almost alone in winters, and was used in New England as a cure for coughs, the leaves boiled down in water. Asthmatics, Sanders tells us, used to smoke it for relief. For many years, apothecaries in France used Coltsfoot as its symbol, a surprising pedigree for a neglected "weed."More a companion than a field guide, THE SECRETS OF WILDFLOWERS is a must-have for anyone who enjoys a walk in a meadow or a gaze outside.

    By excluding biophysical and social reality from its analyses and equations, conventional economics seems ill-suited to address problems in a world characterized by increasing human impacts and decreasing natural resources. Ecological Economics is an introductory-level textbook for an emerging paradigm that addresses this fundamental flaw in conventional economics. The book defines a revolutionary transdiscipline that incorporates insights from the biological, physical, and social sciences, and it offers a pedagogically complete examination of this exciting new field. The book provides students with a foundation in traditional neoclassical economic thought, but places that foundation within a new interdisciplinary framework that embraces the linkages among economic growth, environmental degradation, and social inequity. Introducing the three core issues that are the focus of the new transdiscipline -- scale, distribution, and efficiency -- the book is guided by the fundamental question, often assumed but rarely spoken in

    Sharing more than 100 of her favourite recipes, the author offers a wealth of information on sourcing and supporting your own organic farmers. Recipes for familiar favourites such as Sea Caesar Salad, Asian Root Vegetable Stew and Mocha Cheesecake with Chocolate Brownie Crust, have been fully redesigned for the home cook.

    His subjects range from the natural history of owls to the delicious mystery of wolves ("Howling Back at the Wolves"); the demise of the red wolf ("Lament the Red Wolves"); our relationship with dogs ("Dogs, and the Tug of Life"); the nature of a bear-stalker ("Bears, Bears, Bears"); and the intricate workings of an old farm's ecosystem. Hoagland's exploration, from the boreal forests of Maine to the brawny Belize River, illuminates both the exotic and the wilds of our own backyards. Hoagland reports from the frontlines of life. He recounts fascinating detail with exacting prose. He's irascible, brilliant, probing, sharp-witted, and brutally honest about himself and the state of the natural world.No one who admires John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, and Edward Abbey should miss this definitive collection. It will forever change the way you view the natural world.

    The discussion moves systematically through ideas, theories, research and practice of urban design from a wide range of sources. It gradually builds the concepts one upon the other towards a total view of the subject.

    Written in an engaging manner, this book helps readers identify dryland plants, discusses what other organisms, plant and animal, might be found in the same area, and explains why.

    Stretching from the cypress swamps of Okefenokee to the remote wilderness of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the refuges now occupy an amazing 95 million acres of the American landscape. These are America's most treasured natural habitats - filled with waterfowl, fish, mammals, and a diverse array of plants." Coupling his text with the remarkable photographs of John and Karen Hollingsworth, Eric Dolin draws on the rich history surrounding the refuges to reveal an intriguing story of people and nature. After exploring how the fledgling conservation movement found its champion in Teddy Roosevelt, Dolin unveils a story filled with heroic, sometimes quirky, Americans who fought to preserve the nation's natural heritage. Following Roosevelt's lead - and against a backdrop of the twentieth century's wars and strife - refuge after refuge was created, resulting today in an incredibly diverse and biologically critical system that helped earn the United States its reputation as a leader in global conservation."Outstanding book . . . Highly and enthusiastically recommended for all public libraries and all environmental collections." Library Journal"A terrific job . . . The result is a coffee table book worth buying a coffee table for." The Baltimore Sun"The remarkable photographs and accompanying text reveal the rich history of America's 538 national wildlife refuges." Outdoor Photographer"The stories of Teddy Roosevelt . . . Ding Darling, and other indomitable historic figures are woven into the inspiring saga." Wildlife Conservation"This richly illustrated retrospective could not be more timely." Nature Conservancy

    From the venomous rattlers to the docile garter snakes, each species is shown to display a unique set of behaviors and adaptations to its environment.Much more than simply a field guide, this monumental reference begins with an introduction to snake biology and evolution, which is followed by an identification guide and key to the North American species. The heart of the book is the species accounts which, accompanied by color photographs, provide detailed information on identifying features, geographic variation, known fossils, current distribution, habitat type, behavior, reproduction, growth, diet, and predators. Completing the book is a glossary of terms and a comprehensive reference section. No other book provides as thorough or as reliable coverage.

    Now thoroughly revised to reflect new biological research and approaches to wildlife conservation and management, the second edition of this "essential volume" ( Wildlife Society Bulletin) continues to provide the most current and comprehensive data on the distribution, physiology, ecology, behavior, commercial value, and viability of nongame species including bats, woodrats, prairie dogs, and armadillo, the whales, seals, and sireians, as well as carnivores, furbearers, and big game species.

    From the ancient origins of the proboscideans to the present-day crisis of the living elephants, this volume synthesizes the behavior, ecology and conservation of elephants, while covering also the history of human interactions with elephants, all within the theoretical framework of evolutionary biology. The book begins with a survey of the 60-million year evolutionary history of the proboscideans emphasizing the role of climate and vegetation change in giving rise to a bewildering array of species, but also discussing the possible role of humans in the late Pleistocene extinction of mastodonts and mammoths. The latest information on the molecular genetics of African and Asian elephants and its taxonomic implications are then presented. The rise of the elephant culture in Asia, and its early demise in Africa are traced along with an original interpretation of this unique animal-human relationship. The book then moves on to the social life of elephants as it relates to reproductive strategies of males and females, development of behavior in young, communication, ranging patterns, and societal organization. The foraging strategies of elephants, their impact on the vegetation and landscape are then discussed. The dynamics of elephant populations in relation to hunting for ivory and their population viability are described with the aid of mathematical models. A detailed account of elephant-human interactions includes a treatment of crop depredation by elephants in relation to their natural ecology, manslaughter by elephants, habitat manipulation by humans, and a history of the ivory trade and poaching in the two continents. The ecological information is brought together in the final chapter to formulate a set of pragmatic recommendations for the long-term conservation of elephants. The broadest treatment of the subject yet undertaken, by one of the leading workers in the field, Raman Sukumar, the book promises to bring the understanding of elephants to a new level. It should be of interest not only to biologists but also a broader audience including field ecologists, wildlife administrators, historians, conservationists and all those interested in elephants and their future.

    His topics include alder and cedar; jellyfish, geoducks, crabs, and killer whales; mosquitoes and spiders; gulls, crows, and bald eagles; and sea otters, coyotes, raccoons, possums, deer, and cougars.This informative and engaging selection of natural history essays is adapted from articles published in the Seattle Times magazine, Pacific Northwest. A native Washingtonian, Dietrich has watched the Northwest double in population during his lifetime. Our rapidly changing view of nature is an underlying theme throughout his wide-ranging essays, as is the timely and essential question of how best to share and conserve the natural world that drew us to the region in the first place.Not a field guide nor an environmental policy book, Natural Grace is intended as a primer for people who are curious about the environment they live in and the pressures upon it. "We only care about what we know," says the author. "I've concluded that enthusiasm and commitment begin from learning just how marvelous this region is: Passion has to precede purpose." And there is much to marvel over. Dietrich has unearthed fascinating and unexpected facts about his subjects, and he has a gift for expressing complex information in clear and vivid language. He asks intriguing questions and makes good use of interviews with Northwest scientists and experts to convey current and historic attitudes and economic realities, and to consider where we go from here.For more information about the author go to: http: //www.williamdietrich.com/

    If animals could talk, we would ask them to recall their own ancestries, in particular the secrets as to how they avoided almost inevitable annihilation in the face of daily assaults by predators, climactic cataclysms, deadly infections and innate diseases.In Tears of the Cheetah, medical geneticist and conservationist Stephen J. O'Brien narrates fast-moving science adventure stories that explore the mysteries of survival among the earth's most endangered and beloved wildlife. Here we uncover the secret histories of exotic species such as Indonesian orangutans, humpback whales, and the imperiled cheetah-the world's fastest animal which nonetheless cannot escape its own genetic weaknesses.Among these genetic detective stories we also discover how the Serengeti lions have lived with FIV (the feline version of HIV), where giant pandas really come from, how bold genetic action pulled the Florida panther from the edge of extinction, how the survivors of the medieval Black Death passed on a genetic gift to their descendents, and how mapping the genome of the domestic cat solved a murder case in Canada.With each riveting account of animal resilience and adaptation, a remarkable parallel in human medicine is drawn, adding yet another rationale for species conservation-mining their genomes for cures to our own fatal diseases. Tears of the Cheetah offers a fascinating glimpse of the insight gained when geneticists venutre into the wild.

    Covering everything from toxics to electric power plays, St. Clair gives you a shocking view of how money and power determine the state of our environment.St. Clair names the culprits and exposes the deeds. The book opens with Oregon as a metaphor for the nation. Now becoming "Californicated," Oregon’s mythological beauty is transforming into just that: more myth every day.In Been Brown So Long, It Looked Like Green to Me you’ll meet:Bill Clinton, "saving" Yellowstone National Park from the miners. This turned out to be a thinly disguised a payoff of Noranda who was given leases on other federal lands.Not to be outdone is Chainsaw George. Bush II is out to stop forest fires by stopping forests.But St. Clair also profiles the heroes like David Chain who gave his life fighting for the forest, and founder of Friends of the Earth David Brower railing against the -increasing conformity of the environmental movement.From the struggle over the lobo wolf in New Mexico to the fight to save the Grizzly (in Idaho), from the shooting of wild Bison in Montana to how the Sierra Club provided the cover for a federal program that shoveled federal lands into the hands of private investors, St. Clair gives a well-rounded account of where the environment stands -today—and what to do about it.Praise for Jeffrey St. Clair’s White Out: The CIA, Drugs and the Press:"A history of hypocrisy and political interference the like of which only Frederick Forsyth in a dangerous caffeine frenzy could make up."—The Guardian

    Kids of all ages will get a kick out of learning to identify the droppings of various animals by making (and eating!) "scat cookies." Lovely watercolor illustrations balance out the "yuckiness," reminding us that nature is not just disgusting, but beautiful, too.

    The unusually lush Carolinian Zone is the northernmost range of the lofty Tuliptree, the elusive Pawpaw, the flamboyant Black Gum, the brooding Butternut, the Magnolia, the Cucumbertree and many more deciduous species.This book offers valuable advice on how to identify, preserve, use, and propagate each species, including important notes on the qualities of each species' wood, natural enemies, and value to wildlife. The Carolinian zone is rich in human population too -- one quarter of Canada's population resides here. The author tells us how we can protect and encourage these wonderful trees despite urban encroachment.Features:Complete alphabetical listing by common name Species fact sheets A history of each species A special look at native species Notes on preservation, restoration and usage Hundreds of detailed species illustrations

    Also featured is an illustrated survey of recently disappeared British and Irish plants, some of which may return.

    Once our ancestors could walk on two legs, they began to do many of the things that apes cannot do: cross wide open spaces, manipulate complex tools, communicate with new signal systems, and light fires. Titled after the last two words of Darwin's Descent of Man and written by a leading scholar of human evolution, Lowly Origin is the first book to explain the sources and consequences of bipedalism to a broad audience. Along the way, it accounts for recent fossil discoveries that show us a still incomplete but much bushier family tree than most of us learned about in school.Jonathan Kingdon uses the very latest findings from ecology, biogeography, and paleontology to build a new and up-to-date account of how four-legged apes became two-legged hominins. He describes what it took to get up onto two legs as well as the protracted consequences of that step--some of which led straight to modern humans and others to very different bipeds. This allows him to make sense of recently unearthed evidence suggesting that no fewer than twenty species of humans and hominins have lived and become extinct. Following the evolution of two-legged creatures from our earliest lowly forebears to the present, Kingdon concludes with future options for the last surviving biped.A major new narrative of human evolution, Lowly Origin is the best available account of what it meant--and what it means--to walk on two feet.

    This extraordinary atlas is the first comprehensive view of not only the Amazon River but also its thirteen major tributaries. More than 150 color maps and nearly 300 vivid photographs provide spectacular views of the river and rainforest. Along the way, the authors explore many intriguing topics such as why some of the Amazon’s tributaries have black water, what happens when the freshwater of the Amazon reaches the salty ocean, and why we all should be concerned about the deforestation that contributes to the loss of species biodiversity.

    Unlike their human counterparts, who must alter their environment to accommodate our physical limitations, animals are adaptable to an amazing range of conditions--i.e., radical changes in a creature's physiology take place to match the demands of the environment. Winter provides an especially remarkable situation, because of how drastically it affects the most elemental component of all life: water.Examining everything from food sources in the extremely barren winter landscape to the chemical composition that allows certain creatures to survive, Heinrich's Winter World awakens the largely undiscovered mysteries by which nature sustains herself through the harsh, cruel exigencies of winters

    - The author was awarded an Anna Cross Giblin Grant from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators to complete this important book.- Includes rare etchings and photos from author's private collection

    

    In this remarkable anthology are fifteen essays from Wendell Berry, Vandana Shiva, Wes Jackson, Gene Logsdon, Brian Donahue, Eric Freyfogle, David Orr, and others. The Essential Agrarian Reader calls us to celebrate the gifts of the earth, through honest work and respect for the land.

    More than 3300 species of wild plants survive, and mostly flourish, in our backyards, city parks and remaining bushland.Our wild plants are the green thread that binds us to the natural world across thousands of years of human history. They provided Aboriginal Australians and European settlers with food, shelter and raw materials. Today, they soften the outline of the city's built environment and stimulate our senses with an endless variety of colour, shape and form.More than 500 species of our most familiar wild plants, and a few that are less well known, are featured in over 1100 colour photographs; along with brief, easy-to-read, descriptions of the plants and their habitats. This book is an essential companion to the best-selling Wildlife of Greater Brisbane, Wild Places of Greater Brisbane and Wild Guide to Moreton Bay.Published by the Queensland Museum in partnership with the Brisbane City Council and with generous assistance of the Queensland Herbarium and Greening Australia.

    (Gen. 1:26) It has become a commonplace that Biblical religion bears a heavy share of responsibility for our destruction of the environment, and this passage from the King James version of the Bible exemplifies what is generally believed to be the Biblical attitude toward the earth.In this provocative book, however, Norman Wirzba argues that the doctrine of creation, when understood as a statement about the moral and spiritual meaning of the world, actually holds the key to a true understanding of our place in the environment and our responsibility toward it. Wirzba contends that an adequate response to environmental destruction depends on a new formulation of ourselves as part of a created whole, rather than as autonomous, unencumbered individuals. Drawing on the work of biblical scholars, ecologists, agrarians, philosophers, theologians, and cultural critics, Wirzba develops a comprehensive worldview that grows out of the idea that the world is God's creation. While the text of Genesis has historically encouraged a vision of persons as masters of creation, a more theologically and ecologically sensitive rendering, he says, would be to say that we are servants of creation. Our present culture, Wirzba believes, results from a denial of creation that has caused modern problems as diverse as rootlessness, individualism, careerism, boredom, and consumerism. The recovery of the meaning of creation can lead to a renewed sense of human identity and vocation, and happier, more peaceful lives. He concludes by offering practical advice for individuals who wish to begin the work of transformation and renewal.Moving beyond the usual political debates, The Paradise of God presents a compelling vision of a new religious environmentalism.

    For Native peoples the earth was special, the dwelling place of manitous and spirits and the repository of the bones of generations of ancestors. And the earth remains today a deep wellspring of revelations and unveiled mysteries for those who take time to watch, listen, and reflect.Celebrated Ojibwa writer Basil Johnston invites us to go into the woods and meadows, mountains, valleys, and seashores to watch miracles still unfolding, to listen to nature's symphonies, to feel the pulse of the earth, to take in the fragrances, and to sense the awesome. His stories of the creatures, seasons, and landscape of the earth reveal a land that has never stopped brimming with beauty, song, and dance.

    It shows how a little botanical knowledge can bring not just better results but peace of mind, and that losing sleep over such traditional gardening bogeys as weeds, pests and pruning is not necessarily the best course. In this new edition Ken Thompson grabs the opportunity to explain why any old plant will do for companion planting - but also that it can do as much harm as good - and why planting by the moon is complete and utter nonsense.