A Sierra Club Naturalist S Guide To The Deserts Of The Southwest

Newly revised and updated, The Deserts of the Southwest is a comprehensive field companion to the plants, animals, geology, topography, climate, and ecology of the American Southwest. A perennial classic, it describes the four deserts -- the Great Basin, Mohave, Chihuahuan, and Sonoran -- which together stretch into nine southwestern states and Mexico. The topography, geology, and climatic conditions of these arid lands set the stage for one of the most fascinating of ecological studies: the survival and adaptation of animal and plant life in the severe, often extreme desert climate and terrain. Abundantly illustrated with line drawings, maps, charts, and diagrams, The Deserts of the Southwest offers both the outdoor adventurer and the armchair naturalist a clear and detailed portrait of this complex, beautiful, and fragile wilderness. "This book should help any desert adventurer, neophyte or seasoned traveler, to be better prepared." -- Desert News "Peggy Larson has given us...a fine handbook for the newcomer who wants to know more about what he sees, and even for those of us who have lived here for many years." -- Arizona Highways

Published in cooperation with Canyonlands Natural History Association, this comprehensive and beautifully illustrated trailside reference describes more than 270 plants and animals plus geology of an area that includes nine national parks and monuments in the Southwest. A Naturalist's Guide to Canyon Country is the essential tool for exploring the northern Colorado Plateau, that vast province that encompasses eastern Utah, far western Colorado, and sections of northern Arizona and New Mexico. With this fully updated and revised guide in hand, you will gain a sympathetic understanding of the desert ecosystems that make up the region.

In this comprehensive and abundantly illustrated book, Allan A. Schoenherr describes the natural history of California—a state with a greater range of landforms, a greater variety of habitats, and more kinds of plants and animals than any area of equivalent size in all of North America. A Natural History of California focuses on each distinctive region, addressing its climate, rocks, soil, plants, and animals. The second edition of this classic work features updated species names and taxa, new details about parks reclassified by federal and state agencies, new stories about modern human and animal interaction, and a new epilogue on the impacts of climate change.