Precious Heritage : The Status of Biodiversity in the United States
Editorial Reviews
From Scientific American
This comprehensive (and extremely handsome) book analyzes patterns of biological diversity in the U.S.-a vast area that stretches from above the Arctic Circle to below the Tropic of Cancer. The country's 200,000 species (double previous counts) are not faring well. Roughly one third are at risk; 500 are already extinct or missing. Precious Heritage identifies the first ever "hot spots" where conservation efforts would be especially important, and challenges us to consider the scale of habitat conservation that will be needed to protect entire ecological systems. Some of the leading experts on the subject, E. O. Wilson writes in the foreword, "invite us to turn inward, not by abandoning global conservation but by conserving our own fauna and flora in a manner that will set a shining example for the rest of the world."
Editors of Scientific American
Book Description
From the lush forests of Appalachia to the frozen tundra of Alaska, and from the tallgrass prairies of the Midwest to the subtropical rainforests of Hawaii, the United States harbors a remarkable array of ecosystems. These ecosystems in turn sustain an exceptional variety of plant and animal
life. For species such as salamanders and freshwater turtles, the United States ranks as the global center of diversity. Among the nation's other unique biological features are California's coast redwoods, the world's tallest trees, and Nevada's Devils Hole pupfish, which survives in a single
ten-by-seventy-foot desert pool, the smallest range of any vertebrate animal.
Precious Heritage draws together for the first time a quarter century of information on U.S. biodiversity developed by natural heritage programs from across the country. This richly illustrated volume not only documents those aspects of U.S. biodiversity that are particularly noteworthy, but also
considers how our species and ecosystems are faring, what is threatening them, and what is needed to protect the nation's remaining natural inheritance. Above all, Precious Heritage is a celebration of the extraordinary biological diversity of the United States.
Precious Heritage : The Status of Biodiversity in the United States
Precious Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United States,Bruce A. Stein,Lynn S. Kutner,Jonathan S. Adams,Oxford University Press, USA,0195125193,Biodiversity conservation,Biological diversity conservat,Conservation Of Natural Resources (General),Ecology,Environmental Conservation & Protection - General,Environmental Science,Life Sciences - Biology - General,Nature,Nature/Ecology,United States,Applied ecology,Life Sciences | Ecology,Management of land & natural resources,Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection,USA
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