The Desert Grassland

The Desert Grassland PDF Author: Mitchel P. McClaran
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816553203
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
The mixed grass and shrub vegetation known to scientists as desert grassland is common to the basins and valleys that skirt the mountain ranges throughout southwestern North America, extending from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas down through thirteen Mexican states. This variegated ground cover is crucial to life in an arid environment. The Desert Grassland offers the most comprehensive study to date of these flora and the rich biotic communities they support. Leading experts in geography, biology, botany, zoology, and geoscience present new research on the desert grassland and review a vast amount of earlier work. They reveal that present-day grasses once grew in the ice-age forests that existed in these areas before the climate dried and the trees vanished and how the intensity and frequency of fire can influence the plant and animal species of the grassland. They also document how the influence of humans—from Amerindians to contemporary ranchers, public land managers, and real estate developers—has changed the relative abundance of woody and herbaceous species and how the introduction of new plants and domesticated animals to the area has also affected biodiversity. The book concludes with a review of the attempts, both failed and successful, to reestablish plants in desert grasslands affected by overgrazing, drought, and farm abandonment. Meticulously researched and copiously illustrated, The Desert Grassland is a major contribution to ecological literature. For advanced lay readers as well as students and scholars of history, geography, and ecology, it will be a standard reference work for years to come.

The Desert Grassland

The Desert Grassland PDF Author: Mitchel P. McClaran
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816553203
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 359

Get Book Here

Book Description
The mixed grass and shrub vegetation known to scientists as desert grassland is common to the basins and valleys that skirt the mountain ranges throughout southwestern North America, extending from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas down through thirteen Mexican states. This variegated ground cover is crucial to life in an arid environment. The Desert Grassland offers the most comprehensive study to date of these flora and the rich biotic communities they support. Leading experts in geography, biology, botany, zoology, and geoscience present new research on the desert grassland and review a vast amount of earlier work. They reveal that present-day grasses once grew in the ice-age forests that existed in these areas before the climate dried and the trees vanished and how the intensity and frequency of fire can influence the plant and animal species of the grassland. They also document how the influence of humans—from Amerindians to contemporary ranchers, public land managers, and real estate developers—has changed the relative abundance of woody and herbaceous species and how the introduction of new plants and domesticated animals to the area has also affected biodiversity. The book concludes with a review of the attempts, both failed and successful, to reestablish plants in desert grasslands affected by overgrazing, drought, and farm abandonment. Meticulously researched and copiously illustrated, The Desert Grassland is a major contribution to ecological literature. For advanced lay readers as well as students and scholars of history, geography, and ecology, it will be a standard reference work for years to come.

A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert

A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert PDF Author: Steven J. Phillips
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520219809
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 676

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Book Description
"A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert provides the most complete collection of Sonoran Desert natural history information ever compiled and is a perfect introduction to this biologically rich desert of North America."--BOOK JACKET.

In a Desert Garden

In a Desert Garden PDF Author: John Alcock
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816519706
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 187

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Book Description
When John Alcock replaced the Bermuda grass in his suburban Arizona lawn with gravel, cacti, and fairy dusters, he was doing more than creating desert landscaping. He seeded his property with flowers to entice certain insects and even added a few cowpies to attract termites, creating a personal laboratory for ecological studies. His observations of life in his own front yard provided him with the fieldnotes for this unusual book. In a Desert Garden draws readers into the strange and fascinating world of plants and animals native to Arizona's Sonoran Desert. As Alcock studies the plants in his yard, he shares thoughts on planting, weeding, and pruning that any gardener will appreciate. And when commenting on the mating rituals of spiders and beetles or marveling at the camouflage of grasshoppers and caterpillars, he uses humor and insight to detail the lives of the insects that live in his patch of desert. Celebrating the virtues of even aphids and mosquitoes, Alcock draws the reader into the intricacies of desert life to reveal the complex interactions found in this unique ecosystem. In a Desert Garden combines meticulous science with contemplations of nature and reminds us that a world of wonder lies just outside our own doors.

Grass of the Desert

Grass of the Desert PDF Author: Ralph Radcliffe-Whitehead
Publisher: Palala Press
ISBN: 9781358037795
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Sonoran Desert Tortoise

The Sonoran Desert Tortoise PDF Author: Thomas R. Van Devender
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816540276
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
One of the most recognizable animals of the Southwest, the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) makes its home in both the Sonoran and Mohave Deserts, as well as in tropical areas to the south in Mexico. Called by Tohono O'odham people "komik'c-ed," or "shell with living thing inside," it is one of the few desert creatures kept as a domestic pet—as well as one of the most studied reptiles in the world. Most of our knowledge of desert tortoises comes from studies of Mohave Desert populations in California and Nevada. However, the ecology, physiology, and behavior of these northern populations are quite different from those of their southern, Sonoran Desert, and tropical cousins, which have been studied much less. Differences in climate and habitat have shaped the evolution of three races of desert tortoises as they have adapted to changes in heat, rainfall, and sources of food and shelter as the deserts developed in the last ten million years. This book presents the first comprehensive summary of the natural history, biology, and conservation of the Sonoran and Sinaloan desert tortoises, reviewing the current state of knowledge of these creatures with appropriate comparisons to Mohave tortoises. It condenses a vast amount of information on population ecology, activity, and behavior based on decades of studying tortoise populations in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, and also includes important material on the care and protection of tortoises. Thirty-two contributors address such topics as tortoise fossil records, DNA analysis, and the mystery of secretive hatchlings and juveniles. Tortoise health is discussed in chapters on the care of captives, and original data are presented on the diets of wild and captive tortoises, the nutrient content of plant foods, and blood parameters of healthy tortoises. Coverage of conservation issues includes husbandry methods for captive tortoises, an overview of protective measures, and an evaluation of threats to tortoises from introduced grass and wildfires. A final chapter on cultural knowledge presents stories and songs from indigenous peoples and explores their understanding of tortoises. As the only comprehensive book on the desert tortoise, this volume gathers a vast amount of information for scientists, veterinarians, and resource managers while also remaining useful to general readers who keep desert tortoises as backyard pets. It will stand as an enduring reference on this endearing creature for years to come.

Explore the Desert

Explore the Desert PDF Author: Kay Jackson
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 9780736864046
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
A simple look at deserts and their animals and plants.

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green PDF Author: Johnny Rico
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307494187
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Outrageous, hilarious, and absolutely candid, Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green is Johnny Rico’s firsthand account of fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, a memoir that also reveals the universal truths about the madness of war. No one would have picked Johnny Rico for a soldier. The son of an aging hippie father, Johnny was overeducated and hostile to all authority. But when 9/11 happened, the twenty-six-year-old probation officer dropped everything to become an “infantry combat killer.” But if he’d thought that serving his country would be the kind of authentic experience a reader of The Catcher in the Rye would love, he quickly realized he had another thing coming. In Afghanistan he found himself living a Lord of the Flies existence among soldiers who feared civilian life more than they feared the Taliban–guys like Private Cox, a musical prodigy busy “planning his future poverty,” and Private Mulbeck, who didn’t know precisely which country he was in. Life in a combat zone meant carnage and courage–but it also meant tedious hours standing guard, punctuated with thoughtful arguments about whether Bea Arthur was still alive. Utterly uncensored and full of dark wit, Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green is a poignant, frightening, and heartfelt view of life in this and every man’s army.

Growing Desert Plants

Growing Desert Plants PDF Author: Theodore B. Hodoba
Publisher: Museum of NM Press/Red Crane Books
ISBN:
Category : Desert gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Influenced by Mabel Dodge Luhan and art teacher Dorothy Dunn, Pop became a major force in Native American art.

Grass of the Desert

Grass of the Desert PDF Author: Ralph Radcliffe-Whitehead
Publisher: Theclassics.Us
ISBN: 9781230313245
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1892 edition. Excerpt: ... VI. ART AND LIFE. aiwioc likuy KivtfTn v xpovot. ART AND LIFE. Christmas 1891. IHOSE among us whose education by means of books was still going on while the influence of John Stuart Mill was powerful in England, cannot fail to remember a passage in his autobiography where he acknowledges the influence of poetry. We had sat at his feet and drank in the Positivist doctrines of Comte, and had accustomed ourselves to put on one side all that was not explicable in logical language, and now we were puzzled at our master's inconsistency. The influence of Clothilde de Vaux on the founder's life we had perhaps attributed to human weakness, but here was our logician acknowledging that, although all poetry was fictitious, he yet got pleasure and satisfaction from a perusal of Wordsworth. We began once more to question his first principles, and to ask whether, after all, the imagination dealt merely with unrealities; whether the poet's kingdom was only in the clouds; whether Homer, and Sappho, and Sophocles, and Shakespeare provided only a more refined sort of Punch and Judy show for grown-up children: as the leaven worked in us, and as with advancing years we gained more experience of life, we were provoked at first, but later perhaps not sorry, to find that the cut-and-dried system of existence in which intellect was to be our only guide filled but a meagre portion of human life after all, and we were gradually led to reconsider whether the famous words of Kant had not truth in them, and whether the infinity of starry heavens above, and of the generous impulses of the better man within, did not exceed the bounds which the Positive philosophy had set for us. After many wanderings we came to the conclusion that were the world limited merely to what...

Grass of the Desert (Classic Reprint)

Grass of the Desert (Classic Reprint) PDF Author: Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead
Publisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9780484619721
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Excerpt from Grass of the Desert Let us leave Rome till some of us go there again she has beauties of her own, and will ever be a name to conjure with, even if we care little for the beginning of her decadence in art, which our grandfathers took to be the culminating point of her splendour, and let us loaf in a gondola through the city of the Doges. We have seen many pictures together, and have heard much of the same music, we have read many of the same poems, and we know that at the bottom we are agreed about all these. But we have talked little of the generalizations of criticism and of philosophy, and we must first of all make sure that we understand each other as well in expression as we do in reality. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.