Search results

Grassland covers 26 per cent of the world's total land area. It produces feed for livestock; maintains soil fertility; protects and conserves soil and water resources; creates a habitat for wildlife; provides recreational space for sport and leisure and contributes to the general landscape. This book provides an up-to-date account of progress and potential in the genetic improvement of grassland to meet all needs. It encompasses work on a wide range of temperate and tropical grassland species (i...

From Abronia to Zinnia, Jewels of the Plains describes the natural history and garden merits of more than five hundred Great Plains wildflowers. Considered the authoritative guide by native plant enthusiasts and horticulturists, it captures the unique beauty, resilience, and variety of wildflowers in the Great Plains. Claude A. Barr did not set out to be a writer. In 1910, he homesteaded 160 acres of prairie in the southwest corner of South Dakota, intending to become a farmer. Despite challeng...

For thirty years David Campbell has been conducting ecological studies in the Brazilian Amazon. It is a place of extraordinary abundance: in the eighteen hectares of rainforest Campbell has studied are 20,000 individual trees of about 2,000 species - three times as many species of trees as there are in all of North America. And each tree is an ecosystem in itself, bearing fungi, lichens, mosses, reptiles, mammals, birds, spiders, scorpions, beetles and uncountable legions of insects. Campbell kn...

'Useful, practical and non-preachy' Financial Times Gender balance is first and foremost a business issue. McKinsey estimates we could add 28 trillion to global GDP if we achieved gender equality everywhere - that is more than the GDPs of the US and China combined. But it is so much more than that. Gender balance is one of the best levers we can pull to build better managers and leaders at every level, improve team performance and create better cultures where everyone can thrive.In the Penguin...

Restoration ecology is a vital tool to mitigate the crisis caused by the global destruction of biodiversity, one of the most powerful existential threats to future generations. Johnny Armstrong's Rescuing Biodiversity tells the story of one man's attempts to preserve a vanishing Louisiana ecosystem and restore the animal and plant species that once lived there. As a grandfather and perpetual student, Armstrong witnessed the speed at which the timber industry pillaged local landscapes, and he re...

In a little-known area of South Texas, extending across the Rio Grande into Mexico, a mysterious, lush land once harbored mighty trees, bushes, and grasses--brushland home to a plethora of wildlife. In Adios to the Brushlands native son Arturo Longoria remembers this chapparal land of his childhood: hot summer days and frigid winter mornings walking with his grandfather or his best friend through the dense underbrush, watching birds, studying reptiles, identifying plants. Boyhood hunting and var...

This book by the renowned naturalist and writer Paul A. Johnsgard tells the complex biological and environmental story of the western Great Plains under the black-tailed prairie dog’s reign—and then under a brief but devastating century of human dominion.  An introduction to the ecosystem of the shortgrass prairie, Prairie Dog Empire describes in clear and detailed terms the habitat and habits of black-tailed prairie dogs; their subsistence, seasonal behavior, and the makeup of their vast coloni...

The ubiquitous ground squirrel is one of thousands of species of animals inhabiting the diverse ecosystems found throughout the grasslands region. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and butterflies/insects and includes a map featuring prominent wildlife-viewing areas. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information and ideal for field use b...

This book offers a series of interviews with Canadian ranchers that highlight the innovative and effective ways that they manage vast swaths of grassland for two complementary goals: commercial viability and sustainable habitats. The book’s author is an academic who grew up among ranchers in the grasslands of Canada, and the expertise and viewpoints she has distilled from these interviews complement the academic literature in accessible and surprising ways . As these productive landscapes face i...

A holistic approach to analyzing distinct grassland habitats that integrates ecological, historical, and archaeological data.   Today the southeastern United States is a largely rural, forested, and agricultural landscape interspersed with urban areas of development. However, two centuries ago it contained hundreds of thousands of acres of natural grasslands that stretched from Florida to Texas. Now more than 99 percent of these prairies, glades, and savannas have been plowed up or paved over,...

The A World to Preserve series brings together breathtaking landscapes, inspiring quotes, and infographics about environmental issues that take the reader on a journey through the depths of the earth. "We really have the most beautiful planet in our solar system. None other can sustain life like we know it. None other has blue water and white clouds covering colorful landmasses filled with thriving, beautiful, living things like human beings." - Sunita Williams The mesmerising pictures in The Ea...

A striking and famous feature of the English landscape, Dartmoor is a beautiful place, with a sense of wildness and mystery. This book provides a new perspective on an important aspect of Dartmoor's past. Its focus is transhumance: the seasonal transfer of grazing animals to different pastures. In the Middle Ages, intensive practical use was made of Dartmoor's resources. Its extensive moorlands provided summer pasture for thousands of cattle from the Devon lowlands, which flowed in a seasonal...

Once covered by wild grasses, America's heartland is by nature a grassland, populated with plants whose ecological importance, practical value and subtle beauty we are only now beginning to comprehend. Of the 3,000 species of wild plants in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, in the heart of the heartland, only two of every ten are grasses and in some prairies just one or two of these can account for 80-90 percent of the ground cover. It is these major wild grasses, the native and the naturalised, th...