Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This comprehensive field guide includes all the flora and fauna you're most likely to see in the forest communities of the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. It includes 53 color plates and more than 80 color photos illustrating trees, birds, mammals, wildflowers, mushrooms, reptiles and amphibians, butterflies, beetles, and other insects.
About the Author
Gordon Morrison is a well-known naturalist whose work has been praised by Roger Tory Peterson as "Marvelous, beautiful, excellent . . . Morrison's work is so inspiring that I wish such clear material was available when I was slowly learning ecology. . . . We owe a debt of gratitude to Gordon for his interpretive skills as an artist. He is a superb teacher who uses visual methods." Robert Bateman likened his work to that of Albrecht Durer and Andrew Wyeth. Gordon Morrison makes his home in Massachusetts.Roger Tory Peterson, one of the world's greatest naturalists, received every major award for ornithology, natural science, and conservation as well as numerous honorary degrees, medals, and citations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Peterson Identification System has been called the greatest invention since binoculars. These editions include updated material by Michael O'Brien, Paul Lehman, Bill Thompson III, Michael DiGiorgio, Larry Rosche, and Jeffrey A. Gordon.
John Kricher's works include the Peterson Field Guides toandnbsp;Eastern Forests, Rocky Mountain and Southwestern Forests, and California and Pacific Northwest Forests.
John Kricher's works include the Peterson Field Guides toandnbsp;Eastern Forests, Rocky Mountain and Southwestern Forests, and California and Pacific Northwest Forests.
Table of Contents
Editorand#8217;s Note v Acknowledgments vii Preface ix 1. How to Use This Book 1 2. Forest Ecology 14 Essay: Plant-Herbivore Wars 37 3. Life Zones 50 4. Widespread Western Mammals and Birds 59 Essay: Elk and Sexual Selection 60 Essay: Pale Rump Patches 65 Essay: Antlers and Horns 66 Essay: The Selfish Herd and the Solitary Hunter 73 Essay: Old World and New World Vultures 76 Plate 1. Widespread Western Mammals 90 Plate 2. Widespread Birds of Open Areas 92 Plate 3. Widespread Forest Birds 94 5. West Meets East: Great Plains Forests 96 Prairie Riparian Forest 97 Essay: The Eastern Kingbirdand#8217;s Dual Personality 102 Essay: Lumping and Splitting on the Great Plains 105 Black Hills Forest 107 Essay: What Is a Community? 113 Plate 4. Prairie Riparian Forest 116 Plate 5. Black Hills Forest 118 6. South Texas Forests 120 Gulf Coast Live Oak Forest 121 Edwards Plateau Forest 127 Essay: Mexican Birds 134 Lower Rio Grande Forest 136 Essay: Lower Rio Grande Valley Wildlife Corridor 144 East Texas Pine Forest 145 Plate 6. Edwards Plateau Forest 148 Plate 7. Lower Rio Grande Forest I 150 Plate 8. Lower Rio Grande Forest II 152 7. Rocky Mountain Forests 154 Great Basin Desert 158 Shortgrass Prairie 161 Pinyon-Juniper Forest 165 Essay: The Interlocking Fates of Jays and Pinyons 172 Ponderosa Pine Forest 174 Essay: Bird Guilds 181 Aspen Grove 183 Lodgepole Pine Forest 191 Essay: Was Smokey Wrong? The Ecological Role of Fire 199 Riparian Forest 203 Spruce-Fir Forest 210 High Pine Forest 218 Timberline-Alpine Tundra 225 Animals of the Alpine Tundra 235 Essay: The Social Orders of Marmots 239 Plate 9. Pinyon-Juniper Forest 244 Plate 10. Ponderosa Pine Forest 246 Plate 11. Aspen Grove 248 Plate 12. Lodgepole Pine Forest 250 Plate 13. Riparian Forest 252 Plate 14. Spruce-Fir Forest 254 Plate 15. High Pine Forest 256 Plate 16. Animals of the Timberline-Alpine Tundra 258 8. Southwest Forests 260 Arroyo and Desert Scrub 265 Essay: Sonoita Creek, Oasis in the Desert 273 Mexican Madrean Foothill Forest 275 Arizona Madrean Foothill Forest 283 Arizona Canyon Riparian Forest 291 Southwest Mountain Forest 299 Essay: Arizonaand#8217;s Occasional Parrot 307 Chihuahua Desert 309 Essay: How a Grassland Becomes a Desert 314 Giant Saguaro Cactus Forest 316 Essay: The Saguaro: Keystone Species of the Bajada 328 Plate 17. Arroyo and Desert Scrub 330 Plate 18. Mexican Madrean Foothill Forest 332 Plate 19. Arizona Madrean Foothill Forest 334 Plate 20. Arizona Canyon Riparian Forest 336 Plate 21. Southwest Mountain Forest 338 Plate 22. Giant Saguaro Cactus Forest 340
References 345 Index 348