Changing Plant Life of La Frontera

Changing Plant Life of La Frontera
Author: Grady Linder Webster
Publisher: UNM Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780826322395

Presents a new agenda for study of the strikingly diverse shrub and grassland ecosystems of the U.S./Mexico border.

Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Conservation in Northern Mexico

Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Conservation in Northern Mexico
Author: Jean-Luc E. Cartron
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2005-08-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195156722

This book describes the biodiversity and biogeography of nothern Mexico, documents the biological importance of regional ecosystems and the impacts of human land use on the conservation status of plants and wildlife. It should become the standard source document for the conservation status of species and ecosystems in this region, which is of unusual biological interest because of its high biodiversity and highly varied landscape and biological zonation.

The Changing Mile Revisited

The Changing Mile Revisited
Author: Raymond M. Turner
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2021-10-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0816546851

The Changing Mile, originally published in 1965, was a benchmark in ecological studies, demonstrating the prevalence of change in a seemingly changeless place. Photographs made throughout the Sonoran Desert region in the late 1800s and early 1900s were juxtaposed with photographs of the same locations taken many decades later. The nearly one hundred pairs of images revealed that climate has played a strong role in initiating many changes in the region. This new book updates the classic by adding recent photographs to the original pairs, providing another three decades of data and showing even more clearly the extent of change across the landscape. During these same three decades, abundant information about climatic variability, land use, and plant ecology has accumulated, making it possible to determine causes of change with more confidence. Using nearly two hundred additional triplicate sets of unpublished photographs, The Changing Mile Revisited utilizes repeat photographs selected from almost three hundred stations located in southern Arizona, in the Pinacate region of Mexico, and along the coast of the Gulf of California. Coarse photogrammetric analysis of this enlarged photographic set shows the varied response of the region's major plant species to the forces of change. The images show vegetation across the entire region at sites ranging in elevation from sea level to a mile above sea level. Some sites are truly arid, while others are located above the desert in grassland and woodland. Common names are used for most plants and animals (with Latin equivalents in endnotes) to make the book more accessible to non-technical readers. The original Changing Mile was based upon a unique set of data that allowed the authors to evaluate the extent and magnitude of vegetation change in a large geographic region. By extending the original landmark study, The Changing Mile Revisited will remain an indispensable reference for all concerned with the fragile desert environment.

Terrestrial Vegetation of California, 3rd Edition

Terrestrial Vegetation of California, 3rd Edition
Author: Michael Barbour
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 734
Release: 2007-07-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0520933362

This thoroughly revised, entirely rewritten edition of what is the essential reference on California’s diverse and ever-changing vegetation now brings readers the most authoritative, state-of-the-art view of California’s plant ecosystems available. Integrating decades of research, leading community ecologists and field botanists describe and classify California’s vegetation types, identify environmental factors that determine the distribution of vegetation types, analyze the role of disturbance regimes in vegetation dynamics, chronicle change due to human activities, identify conservation issues, describe restoration strategies, and prioritize directions for new research. Several new chapters address statewide issues such as the historic appearance and impact of introduced and invasive plants, the soils of California, and more.

Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas

Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas
Author: Thomas T. Veblen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2006-05-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 038721710X

Both fire and climatic variability have monumental impacts on the dynamics of temperate ecosystems. These impacts can sometimes be extreme or devastating as seen in recent El Nino/La Nina cycles and in uncontrolled fire occurrences. This volume brings together research conducted in western North and South America, areas of a great deal of collaborative work on the influence of people and climate change on fire regimes. In order to give perspective to patterns of change over time, it emphasizes the integration of paleoecological studies with studies of modern ecosystems. Data from a range of spatial scales, from individual plants to communities and ecosystems to landscape and regional levels, are included. Contributions come from fire ecology, paleoecology, biogeography, paleoclimatology, landscape and ecosystem ecology, ecological modeling, forest management, plant community ecology and plant morphology. The book gives a synthetic overview of methods, data and simulation models for evaluating fire regime processes in forests, shrublands and woodlands and assembles case studies of fire, climate and land use histories. The unique approach of this book gives researchers the benefits of a north-south comparison as well as the integration of paleoecological histories, current ecosystem dynamics and modeling of future changes.

Vegetation Dynamics on the Mountains and Plateaus of the American Southwest

Vegetation Dynamics on the Mountains and Plateaus of the American Southwest
Author: John Vankat
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2013-05-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 940076149X

The book provides information essential for anyone interested in the ecology of the American Southwest, including land managers, environmental planners, conservationists, ecologists and students. It is unique in its coverage of the hows and whys of dynamics (changes) in the major types of vegetation occurring on southwestern mountains and plateaus. It explains the drivers and processes of change, describes historical changes and provides conceptual models that diagrammatically illustrate past, present, and potential future changes. All major types of vegetation are covered: spruce-fir, mixed conifer, and ponderosa pine forests, pinyon-juniper vegetation, subalpine-montane grassland, and Gambel oak and interior chaparral shrublands. The focus is on vegetation that is relatively undisturbed, i.e., in natural and near-natural condition, and how it responds to natural disturbances such as fire and drought, as well as to anthropogenic disturbances such as fire exclusion and invasive species

White-Tailed Deer Habitat

White-Tailed Deer Habitat
Author: Timothy Edward Fulbright
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2013-05-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1603449515

The original, 2006 edition of Timothy Edward Fulbright and J. Alfonso Ortega-S.’s White-Tailed Deer Habitat: Ecology and Management on Rangelands was hailed as “a splendid reference for the classroom and those who make their living from wildlife and the land” and as “filling a niche that is not currently approached in the literature.” In this second, full-color edition, revised and expanded to include the entire western United States and northern Mexico, Fulbright and Ortega-S. provide a carefully reasoned synthesis of ecological and range management principles that incorporates rangeland vegetation management and the impact of crops, livestock, predation, and population density within the context of the arid and semiarid habitats of this broad region. As landowners look to hunting as a source of income and to the other benefits of managing for wildlife, the clear presentation of the up-to-date research gathered in this book will aid their efforts. Essential points covered in this new edition include: White-tailed deer habitat requirements Nutritional needs of White-tailed deer Carrying capacity Habitat management Hunting Focused across political borders and written with an understanding of environments where periodic drought punctuates long-term weather patterns, this revised and expanded edition of White-Tailed Deer Habitat: Ecology and Management on Rangelands will aid landowners, researchers, and naturalists in their efforts to integrate land management and use with sound ecological practices.

When the Rains Come

When the Rains Come
Author: John Alcock
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2009-04-17
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780816528356

Life in the desert is a waiting game: waiting for rain. And in a year of drought, the stakes are especially high. John Alcock knows the Sonoran Desert better than just about anyone else, and in this book he tracks the changes he observes in plant and animal life over the course of a drought year. Combining scientific knowledge with years of exploring the desert, he describes the variety of ways in which the wait for rain takes placeÑand what happens when it finally comes. The desert is a land of five seasons, featuring two summersÑhot, dry months followed by monsoonÑand Alcock looks at the changes that take place in an entire desert community over the course of all five. He describes what he finds on hikes in the Usery Mountains near Phoenix, where he has studied desert life over three decades and where frequent visits have enabled him to notice effects of seasonal variation that might escape a casual glance. Blending a personal perspective with field observation, Alcock shows how desert ecology depends entirely on rainfall. He touches on a wide range of topics concerning the desertÕs natural history, noting the response of saguaro flowers to heat and the habits of predators, whether soaring red-tailed hawk or tiny horned lizard. He also describes unusual aspects of insects that few desert hikers will have noticed, such as the disruptive color pattern of certain grasshoppers that is more effective than most camouflage. When the Rains Come is brimming with new insights into the desert, from the mating behaviors of insects to urban sprawl, and features photographs that document changes in the landscape as drought years come and go. It brings us the desert in the harshest of timesÑand shows that it is still teeming with life.

Forest Conservation in the Anthropocene

Forest Conservation in the Anthropocene
Author: V. Alaric Sample
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2016-08-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1607324598

Forest Conservation in the Anthropocene provides thought-provoking insight into the ongoing environmental crises that climate change is generating and raises critical questions about how public and private land managers in North America will adapt to the climatological disruptions that are already transforming the ecological structures of these forests. In this pathbreaking anthology, a team of leading environmental researchers probes the central dilemmas that ecologists, forest land managers, state and federal agencies, and grassroots organizations are confronting—and will continue to confront—in the coming century. Each chapter examines strategies that are currently being tested across the country as scientists, citizen-scientists, policy makers, academics, and activists work to grasp their options and opportunities for a future that will be shaped by ongoing environmental upheaval. Successful adaptation to the challenges of climate change requires a transdisciplinary perspective. Forest Conservation in the Anthropocene provides a compelling set of arguments and case studies that underscores the need for innovative policies and energetic actions. Contributors: Craig D. Allen, Mark Anderson, Susan Beecher, R. Travis Belote, Timothy J. Brown, Anne A. Carlson, Tim Caro, Grace K. Charles, Dave Cleaves, Dena J. Clink, Ayesha Dinshaw, R. Kasten Dumroese, Jonas Epstein, Alexander M. Evans, Todd Gartner, Jessica E. Halofsky, Nels Johnson, Linda A. Joyce, Paige Lewis, Laura Falk McCarthy, Heather McGray, Constance I. Millar, James Mulligan, Chadwick Dearing, David L. Peterson, Will Price, Janine M. Rice, Jason Riggio, Tania Schoennagel, Mark L. Shaffer, Curt Stager, Scott L. Stephens, Thomas W. Swetnam, Gary M. Tabor, Christopher Topik, Monica G. Turner, Thomas T. Veblen, Alexandra M. Weill, Anthony L. Westerling, Carolyn Whitesell, Mary I. Williams