Encyclopedia of Deserts

Encyclopedia of Deserts PDF Author: Michael A. Mares
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806172290
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 695

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Book Description
Encyclopedia of Deserts represents a milestone: it is the first comprehensive reference to the first comprehensive reference to deserts and semideserts of the world. Approximately seven hundred entries treat subjects ranging from desert survival to the way deserts are formed. Topics include biology (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, invertebrates, plants, bacteria, physiology, evolution), geography, climatology, geology, hydrology, anthropology, and history. The thirty-seven contributors, including volume editor Michael A. Mares, have had extensive careers in deserts research, encompassing all of the world’s arid and semiarid regions. The Encyclopedia opens with a subject list by topic, an organizational guide that helps the reader grasp interrelationships and complexities in desert systems. Each entry concludes with cross-references to other entries in the volume, inviting the reader to embark on a personal expedition into fascinating, previously unknown terrain. In addition a list of important readings facilitates in-depth study of each topic. An exhaustive index permits quick access to places, topics, and taxonomic listings of all plants and animals discussed. More than one hundred photographs, drawings, and maps enhance our appreciation of the remarkable life, landforms, history, and challenges of the world’s arid land.

Encyclopedia of Deserts

Encyclopedia of Deserts PDF Author: Michael A. Mares
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806172290
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 695

Get Book Here

Book Description
Encyclopedia of Deserts represents a milestone: it is the first comprehensive reference to the first comprehensive reference to deserts and semideserts of the world. Approximately seven hundred entries treat subjects ranging from desert survival to the way deserts are formed. Topics include biology (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, invertebrates, plants, bacteria, physiology, evolution), geography, climatology, geology, hydrology, anthropology, and history. The thirty-seven contributors, including volume editor Michael A. Mares, have had extensive careers in deserts research, encompassing all of the world’s arid and semiarid regions. The Encyclopedia opens with a subject list by topic, an organizational guide that helps the reader grasp interrelationships and complexities in desert systems. Each entry concludes with cross-references to other entries in the volume, inviting the reader to embark on a personal expedition into fascinating, previously unknown terrain. In addition a list of important readings facilitates in-depth study of each topic. An exhaustive index permits quick access to places, topics, and taxonomic listings of all plants and animals discussed. More than one hundred photographs, drawings, and maps enhance our appreciation of the remarkable life, landforms, history, and challenges of the world’s arid land.

Physiological Ecology of North American Desert Plants

Physiological Ecology of North American Desert Plants PDF Author: Stanley D. Smith
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642592120
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
Following a description of the physical and biological characterization of the four North American deserts together with the primary adaptations of plants to environmental stress, the authors go on to present case studies of key species. They provide an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the major patterns of adaptation in desert plants, with one chapter devoted to several important exotic plants that have invaded these deserts. The whole is rounded off with a synthesis of the resource requirements of desert plants and how they may respond to global climate change.

Evolution of Desert Biota

Evolution of Desert Biota PDF Author: David W. Goodall
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292740999
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Written by specialists in the field, the papers in this volume explore evolution of animals and plants on the deserts of North America, South America, and Australia. Together, the articles constitute a complete survey of the geological history of the deserts of three continents, the evolution of the animals and plants of those deserts, and their adaptations to the environments in which they live. The first paper, by Otto T. Solbrig, discusses the flora of the South American temperate and semidesert regions, citing numerous genera and reasons that they are found in the different areas. John S. Beard uses the same approach in his discussion of the evolution of Australian desert plants and focuses on western Australian areas. Guillermo Sarmiento appraises the evolution of arid vegetation in tropical America, including the Lesser Antilles and the Coast Range of Venezuela and Colombia. A. R. Main surveys the adaptation of Australian vertebrates to desert conditions and gives examples of how various species of birds, reptiles, and amphibians adapt to their environment in order for the greatest number to survive. James A. MacMahon designates specific communities in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts and discusses the similarity of species of the North American desert mammal faunas found there, while Bobbi S. Low focuses on the evolution of amphibian life histories in the desert and compiles a lengthy table of amphibia comparing egg size, habitat, number of eggs per clutch, and so forth. Finally, W. Frank Blair treats adaptation of anurans to equivalent desert scrub of North and South America and cites various species of frogs and toads that are found in similar areas. The volume also includes an introduction by the editor and an index. Evolution of Desert Biota is the result of a symposium held during the First International Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology in Boulder, Colorado; in August 1973.

Desert Biology

Desert Biology PDF Author: G. W. Brown
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 148322371X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 654

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Book Description
Desert Biology: Special Topics on the Physical and Biological Aspects on Arid Regions, Volume I covers the biology, geophysical characteristics, and ways of life in arid regions. This book is composed of 11 chapters, and begins with a brief description of a desert community, the Merkhiyat Jebels, with its diverse fauna and flora. The subsequent chapters look into the climate, geographical distribution, geologic and geomorphic aspects, and the evolution of desert community. These topics are followed by intensive discussions on desert plants, animals, and limnology. The last chapter describes the adaptive processes and human adaptation capacity to arid environments. This book will prove useful to upper division and graduate students in desert biology.

Catalogue of the Cenozoic Plants of North America through 1950

Catalogue of the Cenozoic Plants of North America through 1950 PDF Author: Robert S. Lamotte
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 0813710510
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description


Chuckwalla Land

Chuckwalla Land PDF Author: David Rains Wallace
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520256166
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
“Wallace weaves science and mythology into a clear and entertaining story about the origin of California's deserts that invites the reader into a world of ancient mystery and modern revelation. This book will appeal to anyone who cherishes arid lands and their natural history.”-Bruce M. Pavlik, author of The California Deserts: An Ecological Rediscovery “David Rains Wallace explores the origins of the California desert with the endless curiosity of a naturalist, with the wit and wordplay of a fine essayist, and with the attention to detail of a lifelong scholar. He burrows toward the solution of the desert’s riddle by following two centuries of science; in doing so, Wallace writes a unique account of both the ecology of the Desert Southwest and the biologists who have devoted their lives to untangling its evolutionary history.”-Stephen Trimble, author of The Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basin “David Rains Wallace never fails to truly enter the world of which he writes. Here he tackles fiery heat, ancient lava flows, spiny plants, and scuttling reptiles, all in the service of asking some difficult “how’s” and “why’s.” I learned a lot about places and critters I thought I knew well from this marvelous book.”-Harry Greene, Cornell professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, author of Snakes: the Evolution of Mystery in Nature

Aridland Springs in North America

Aridland Springs in North America PDF Author: Lawrence E. Stevens
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816526451
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
A collection of articles on the ecology of North American desert springs, by authors from the fields of biology, botany, ichthyology, conservation, geology and law; and covering both the special traits of springs and the ways in which they might be managed in order to survive.

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 594

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Book Description


Flora of the Gran Desierto and Río Colorado Delta

Flora of the Gran Desierto and Río Colorado Delta PDF Author: Richard Stephen Felger
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816552398
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 686

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Book Description
From the Pinacate lava fields and expansive dunes to the shores of the Gulf of California, the Gran Desierto is one of the hottest and driest places in the Western Hemisphere. Yet this region in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico embraces a remarkable number of habitats with a fascinating and surprisingly rich flora. This is the heart of the Sonoran Desert, still in a largely primordial state, in juxtaposition with the ravished wetlands of the once great Río Colorado. Flora of the Gran Desierto is the culmination of more than twenty-five years of research in this magnificent desert and delta by botanist Richard Felger. This comprehensive floristic study of more than 565 species of vascular plants features original diagnostic descriptions and innovative identification keys to the families, genera, and species. Particular attention has been devoted to taxa that are poorly known. Even weeds and their histories are treated in detail. Hundreds of illustrations by such eminent botanical artists as Lucretia Brezeale Hamilton, Matt Johnson, and Bobbi Angell will aid in the identification of plants. Common names of plants are given in English, Spanish, and O'odham. While emphasizing scientific accuracy, the book is written in an accessible style. Felger's observations and knowledge of plant ecology, geographic distribution, evolution, ethnobotany, plant variation and special adaptations, and the history of the region provides botanists, naturalists, ecologists, conservationists, and anyone else celebrating the desert with readable, interesting, and important information. With two of Mexico's newest biosphere reserves—the Pinacate and the Upper Gulf of California—this region is a keystone for desert conservation efforts. Its location linking vast preserves to the north makes this book especially useful for anyone interested in borderland studies and the Sonoran Desert. Flora of the Gran Desierto represents a most creative, definitive, and enthusiastic treatment of Sonoran Desert plant life and is highly relevant to ecological restoration in deserts and wetlands in arid places worldwide.

Proceedings, Research and Management of Bitterbrush and Cliffrose in Western North America, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 13-15, 1982

Proceedings, Research and Management of Bitterbrush and Cliffrose in Western North America, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 13-15, 1982 PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forest management
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description