Yet in the low center of the state is a near wilderness, larger than most national parks, which has been known since the seventeenth century as the Pine Barrens.The term refers to the predominant trees in the vast forests that cover the area and to the quality of the soils below, which are too sandy and acid to be good for farming. On all sides, however, developments of one kind or another have gradually moved in, so that now the central and integral forest is reduced to about a thousand square miles. Although New Jersey has the heaviest population density of any state, huge segments of the Pine Barrens remain uninhabited. The few people who dwell in the region, the "Pineys," are little known and often misunderstood. Here McPhee uses his uncanny skills as a journalist to explore the history of the region and describe the people "and their distinctive folklore" who call it home.

    Baker set out to track the daily comings and goings of a pair of peregrine falcons across the flat fen lands of eastern England. He followed the birds obsessively, observing them in the air and on the ground, in pursuit of their prey, making a kill, eating, and at rest, activities he describes with an extraordinary fusion of precision and poetry. And as he continued his mysterious private quest, his sense of human self slowly dissolved, to be replaced with the alien and implacable consciousness of a hawk.It is this extraordinary metamorphosis, magical and terrifying, that these beautifully written pages record.

    The Los Angeles Times has listed it among the one hundred most influential books published in the last quarter century, Outside Magazine has included it in a survey of books that changed our world, and it has been called the Book of Genesis for environmentalists. Now a fourth edition of this highly regarded work is available, with a new preface and epilogue in which Nash explores the future of wilderness and reflects on its ethical and biocentric relevance.

    MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson argued in 1967. In this book, the authors developed a general theory to explain the facts of island biogeography. The theory builds on the first principles of population ecology and genetics to explain how distance and area combine to regulate the balance between immigration and extinction in island populations. The authors then test the theory against data. The Theory of Island Biogeography was never intended as the last word on the subject. Instead, MacArthur and Wilson sought to stimulate new forms of theoretical and empirical studies, which will lead in turn to a stronger general theory. Even a third of a century since its publication, the book continues to serve that purpose well. From popular books like David Quammen's Song of the Dodo to arguments in the professional literature, The Theory of Island Biogeography remains at the center of discussions about the geographic distribution of species. In a new preface, Edward O. Wilson reviews the origins and consequences of this classic book.

    It includes surface-dwelling creatures as well as those of open water, the bottom, and the shore and tells how various animals and plants live together in a community. Plus suggestions for:Where and when to lookObserving and collecting specimensMaking exciting discoveries

    It contains sketches of orange growers, orange botanists, orange pickers, orange packers, early settlers on Florida's Indian River, the first orange barons, modern concentrate makers, and a fascinating profile of Ben Hill Griffin of Frostproof, Florida who may be the last of the individual orange barons. McPhee's astonishing book has an almost narrative progression, is immensely readable, and is frequently amusing. Louis XIV hung tapestries of oranges in the halls of Versailles, because oranges and orange trees were the symbols of his nature and his reign. This book, in a sense, is a tapestry of oranges, too—with elements in it that range from the great orangeries of European monarchs to a custom of people in the modern Caribbean who split oranges and clean floors with them, one half in each hand.

    And Operation Gwamba? For 18 dramatic months Operation Gwamba meant John Walsh--and his heartwarming, danger-filled struggle to save 10,000 animals from certain death.Operation Gwamba began when ISPA (the International Society for the Protection of Animals) learned that thousands of forest creatures were trapped by the spreading artificial lake behind the new Afobaka Dam in Surinam -- formerly Dutch Guiana. To Surinam, ISPA sent John Walsh, a young man trained in rescue techniques by the Massachusetts SPCA. What followed was one of this century's most extraordinary true adventures of man and animal.

    Now in its 9th edition, the completely updated and revised Sierra North showcases new trips and old favorites in regions such as Desolation Wilderness, Emigrant Wilderness, the proposed Castle Peak Wilderness, and the world-famous Yosemite National Park.

    Lawrence acquired a patch of Ontario wilderness, soon known as "The Place." Here Lawrence and his wife built a cabin and became immersed in studying the ways of the wild. "The Place" was home to a variety of wildlife, from black bears, wolves, beavers and raccoons through to hawks, snapping turtles and singing mice.Lawrence's desire to learn, fuelled by his keen observation, led to his writing about and photographing life within his small corner of the forest -- the result being a warm, witty account of change and survival in the natural world.

    Scientific study of chimpanzees in the wild in 1960.

    

    

    A classic account of the great bear, with more than 100,000 copies sold.

    

    . . . Excellent phoographs accompany the text."—Robert K. Enders, American Scientist"The one book that has been my greatest source of inspiration is The Deer and the Tiger by George Schaller, based on the first ever scientific field study of the tiger. . . . This book is written by a scientist, but speaks from the heart. . . . It reveals startling information on feeding habitats, territorial behaviour, and the nuances that make up the language of the forest; you become totally immersed in the world of the tiger. . . . For all of us who work in tiger conservation, this book is the bible."—Valmik Thapar, BBC Wildlife

    Davis and 20 by E.C. Large.

    His parents warn him not to go down to the valley, but he can't resist the temptation, and one day he's spotted by the gamekeeper. A hunt is organized, and Harquin has to run for his life.

    Two Austrian children, their lame grandfather, and a sick pilot are trapped inside their house when a plane crash causes a great avalanche to come down on their farm.

    And it stood just where the city met the Pacific Ocean, next to a vast park. Mel's room looked onto the park with its flowers and trees, and horses on the bridle paths. It was there, early one foggy morning, that she first saw the ghost horse—a great silvery stallion standing on a hill rising like an island above the swirling fog.''The author's love of horses and of art overflows into this romantic, delightfully told story about a gifted family," said the Chicago Tribune when this book—enjoyed and remembered by its many enthusiastic readers—was first published. "Where has the stallion come from? is he real?. . . How these questions are answered and how Mel wins her heart's desire brings to an end what her family agrees has been a 'very fine summer.'"

    Running away from the drunken and abusive uncle with whom they’d been sent to live, Karen and Tom know they are taking the most obvious route, but no other place draws them.It’s a long journey before they reach the coast and discover the one place where wild ponies roam, ponies that people call magical—and where they tangle with a gang of thieves. Escaping, they find shelter with a group of honest, kind and mismatched new friends, not all of them what they seem. They don’t know then, longing so for their horses, that Karen’s buckskin pony yearns for bis old home too, where he had been bom—but that pony is as stubborn as Karen.This haunting story, like Shirley Rousseau Murphy’s other horse book, White Ghost Summer, has been enjoyed by many readers who will be happy to find back in print.

    Mowat unfolds the geography, history, flora and fauna, and human civilization of the whole region.

    On a rainy March night, a salamander returns to the spring pond for the ancient mating dance of the salamanders.

    Book and cassette.

    From its beginning, the baby crab leads a perilous existence. As an egg it may be stranded by the ebbing tide. Newly hatched, it may be eaten by a larger animal in the sea. After eleven years the horseshoe crab becomes an adult and can live with relative safety in its bristly, armored shell. Even then it is often a target for unnecessary destruction at the hands of human beings.