Collins Guide To The Grasses Sedges Rushes And Ferns Of Britain And Northern Europe

This is a photographic guide to the wild grasses and ferns of Britain and Northern Europe.

Works cited in this useful survey are appropriate for students, librarians, and amateur and professional botanists. These encompass the plant kingdom in all its divisions and aspects, except those of agriculture, horticulture, and gardening. The majority of the annotations are for currently available in-print or electronic reference works. A comprehensive author/title and a separate subject index make locating specific entries simple. With materials ranging from those selected for the informed layperson to those for the specialist, this new edition reflects the momentous transition from print to electronic information resources. It is an appropriate purchase for public, college, university, and professional libraries.

Nick Baker's fascination with the natural world began at an early age, inspired by Gerald and Lee Durrell's classic book The Amateur Naturalist. His The Complete Naturalist is an up-to-date, practical introduction to observing, understanding and investigating the natural world around us. Whether you want to understand what makes an insect and insect, rear a family of frogs for your garden pond, or record bird songs and calls, Nick can give you all the advice and information you need. Fact-packed and brimming with practical tips, techniques and activities, The Complete Naturalist offers a rich source of new ideas for more experienced naturalists, as well as sparking the natural curiosity of a whole new generation. From communicating with wild animals to setting up an aquarium, this is the naturalist's guide no family bookshelf should be without. Nick is an experienced and well-travelled naturalist, and his book includes his international experiences.

Featuring all flowering plants, including trees, grasses, and ferns, this brand-new field guide to the flowers of Britain and northern Europe is the most complete illustrated, single-volume guide ever published. Leading botanical artists have been specially commissioned to ensure accurate, detailed illustrations. Species are described and illustrated on the same page, with up-to-date authoritative text aiding identification. Plants are arranged by family, with their key features highlighted for quick and easy reference. The text offers a complete account of more than 1,900 wild flowers of Britain and Ireland, along with a summary of their European distribution.Collins Flower Guideis an indispensable guide for all those with an interest in the countryside, whether amateur or expert.

Glorious flower meadows were part of our life force for 2000 years or more before we swept them away last century on the altar of progress. Is there to be no more drinking from their font of well being? This book says not. Lavishly illustrated, it describes their history and, from the few remaining examples, it shows us how beautiful they are, how rich in plants and animals. It coaches us in their creation, even in small gardens, or their restoration in larger fields. It tells of the extraordinary lives of even the most ordinary denizens, little secrets that make the meadow's world go around and the convoluted links between the many plants and animals that keep everything in balance. Their stories are woven, season-by-season, into a year in the life of two meadows, a small, garden meadow and a larger old paddock. We hear of birds that plant trees, bacteria that become plant organelles, plants that drink from other plants, plants that fool or poison insects and insects that turn the tables, ants that foster butterflies, mice that navigate by compass, snails that house bees and how all of these connections, together with the flow of energy and nutrients, result in a healthy ecosystem. The book even suggests how adults and children alike can see these things for themselves. So, read this book and help your local green space to become a meadow and revel in it.

Dynamic Aquaria: Building and Restoring Ecosystems and the Biosphere, Fourth Edition demonstrates how the living systems modeling of aquatic ecosystems for ecological, biological, physiological research, and ecosystem restoration produce answers to very complex ecological questions. The book describes unique characteristics of water that have allowed carbon chemistry to flourish and evolve life over 4 billion years, along with current disruptions such as global warming, overfishing, and chemical pollution. New content in this edition includes the use of LED lighting, DNA sequencing in microcosm construction and analysis, and the expansion of the bioengineered tool Algal Turf Scrubbing (ATS) to combat global pollution problems. The book also features new information on marine calcification, research microcosms, thermogeography, and methods of water movement for minimizing plankton loss. It supports a deeper biological and ecological intelligence among the human population to better understand the processes behind environmental issues. Offers the basic physical and chemical background necessary for understanding aquatic and marine ecosystems Expands available electro-mechanical tools for developing living system models Features new information on the biomimicry water control system, Algal Turf Scrubbing (ATS) Evidences how ecosystem modeling can contribute to the understanding of climate change

Dr Samuel Johnson, that famous eighteenth century lexicographer, said of oats 'A grain which in England is generally given to horses but in Scotland supports the people'. And presumably it was a Scotsman who riposted 'But what people and what horses!' That exchange encapsulates much of the history and role of oats - a cereal, once important as human food in parts of northern Europe but latterly used mainly as animal feed, especially favoured for horses. Although no longer a major food anywhere, oats still have a special and favoured niche in the cuisine of people living in the cooler and wetter regions of some parts of northern Europe. However, there is currently a resurgence of interest in the crop, because there is now considerable scientific evidence to support the view of Scotsmen who never doubted its dietary value. This book - very much an international effort, carefully orchestrated by Robert Welch - traces the origin, history and scientific progress which forms a sound basis for any further crop improvement and for broadening the utilization and marketing of oat products. Should rational consider ations lead to an increase in the importance of this cereal, I, for one, would be glad since I believe the rural landscape is the poorer for the increased rarity of golden fields of rippling oats which I used to be involved in harvesting.