Encyclopedia Of Deserts

Encyclopedia of Deserts represents a milestone: it is the first comprehensive reference to the first comprehensive reference to deserts and semideserts of the world. Approximately seven hundred entries treat subjects ranging from desert survival to the way deserts are formed. Topics include biology (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, invertebrates, plants, bacteria, physiology, evolution), geography, climatology, geology, hydrology, anthropology, and history. The thirty-seven contributors, including volume editor Michael A. Mares, have had extensive careers in deserts research, encompassing all of the world’s arid and semiarid regions. The Encyclopedia opens with a subject list by topic, an organizational guide that helps the reader grasp interrelationships and complexities in desert systems. Each entry concludes with cross-references to other entries in the volume, inviting the reader to embark on a personal expedition into fascinating, previously unknown terrain. In addition a list of important readings facilitates in-depth study of each topic. An exhaustive index permits quick access to places, topics, and taxonomic listings of all plants and animals discussed. More than one hundred photographs, drawings, and maps enhance our appreciation of the remarkable life, landforms, history, and challenges of the world’s arid land.

Encyclopedia of Deserts represents a milestone: it is the first comprehensive reference to the first comprehensive reference to deserts and semideserts of the world. Approximately seven hundred entries treat subjects ranging from desert survival to the way deserts are formed. Topics include biology (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, invertebrates, plants, bacteria, physiology, evolution), geography, climatology, geology, hydrology, anthropology, and history. The thirty-seven contributors, including volume editor Michael A. Mares, have had extensive careers in deserts research, encompassing all of the world’s arid and semiarid regions. The Encyclopedia opens with a subject list by topic, an organizational guide that helps the reader grasp interrelationships and complexities in desert systems. Each entry concludes with cross-references to other entries in the volume, inviting the reader to embark on a personal expedition into fascinating, previously unknown terrain. In addition a list of important readings facilitates in-depth study of each topic. An exhaustive index permits quick access to places, topics, and taxonomic listings of all plants and animals discussed. More than one hundred photographs, drawings, and maps enhance our appreciation of the remarkable life, landforms, history, and challenges of the world’s arid land.

The Encyclopedia of the Biosphere features comprehensive coverage of the earth's greatest ecosystems, their characteristics and their operations. The Encyclopedia explains how these ecosystems have been transformed by human activity, while presenting the main species inhabiting each region. The text in each volume is clearly organized into four distinct sections covering the ecosystem's environmental factors, plants and animal ecology, human influences and biosphere reserves. Eleven fully-illustrated, 4-color volumes present in a contemporary, dynamic manner, the earth's principal ecosystems and the better known species of flora and fauna.

This reference work is the first English-language A-Z compendium on all topics related to deserts, including geography, geology, meteorology, climatology, hydrology, botany, zoology, anthropology, art, music, film, culture, sports, as well as the specific and diversely different deserts that one finds in all parts of the world. Definitions, explanations, and clarifications will be contained in more than 2,300 entries that vary in length from a brief sentence to detailed overviews of more complex subjects. The Desert Encyclopedia will be invaluable as a source of data and information, but it is also enjoyable to read straight through. It is also replete with line drawings, black-and-white illustrations, maps, and images from outstanding photographers.

This reference work will be the first English-language A-Z compendium on all topics related to deserts, including geography, geology, meteorology, climatology, hydrology, botany, zoology, anthropology, art, music, film, culture, sports, as well as the specific and diversely different deserts that one finds in all parts of the world. Definitions, explanations, and clarifications will be contained in more than 2,300 entries that vary in length from a brief sentence to detailed overviews of more complex subjects. The Desert Encyclopedia will be invaluable as a source of data and information, but it is also enjoyable to read straight through. It will also be replete with line drawings, black and white illustrations, maps and images from outstanding photographers, all licensed by the authors.

Describes the geographical features, climate, and plants and animals of the deserts of North America with emphasis on their interrelationship.