Nature Through Tropical Windows

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.

"Halfway between Dallas and Mexico City, along the last few hundred miles of the Rio Grande, lies a subtropical outpost where people from all over the world come to see birds. Located between the temperate north and the tropic south, with desert to the west and ocean to the east, the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas provides habitat for a variety of birds seen nowhere else in the United States. If you want to see a Hooked-billed Kite, Muscovy Duck, or Altamira Oriole, this is the place." "Drawing on years of personal observation and study, Timothy Brush has written a classic work of natural history about the little-known breeding bird communities of the Valley and the diversity of nesting strategies and behaviors that can be seen. Brush estimates that there are more than 150 current breeding species in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. In Nesting Birds of a Tropical Frontier, he describes the habits, distribution, changes in occurrence, and general outlook of these as well as former breeders, concentrating on Valley specialties and other birds of particular interest in the Valley." "Art by Gerald Sneed and color photographs by several of Texas' top nature photographers show off some of the Valley's famous birds. Historical maps of vegetation and geology help us gain a better perspective on the changes that have taken place along the Rio Grande and on the breeding bird communities of the U.S.-Mexico frontier."--Jacket

Renowned nature writer and author, John K. Terres has selected nearly 700 quotations from 140 author, who are in profound agreement about the conservation of nature.

Seventeen marvelous essays introducing the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rainforest. A lively, lucid portrait of the tropics as seen by two uncommonly observant and thoughtful field biologists. Its seventeen marvelous essays introduce the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rainforest. Includes a lengthy appendix of practical advice for the tropical traveler.

Biogenic toxins are fascinating natural products characterized by an enormous diversity of chemical structures and pharmacological activities. They not only pose hazards to humans and animals, but they are important components in the interplay of substances and living beings in nature and, moreover, important sources for new drugs. Numerous images of plants and chemical structural formulas complete the book, as well as extensive references for further reading. The multivolume reference is an essential resource for physicians, veterinarians, pharmacists, chemists, biochemists, food chemists and biologists, for students in the relevant fields, and maybe for interested laymen. All aspects of natural toxins based on the latest scientific knowledge are included: All aspects of the toxicology of all living organisms and natural foods, chemistry, action mechanisms, symptoms of intoxications. The only book arranged on a strictly scientific base according to the biogenetic origin and chemical structure. Natural Poisons and Venoms in 5 Volumes: Volume 1: Plant Toxins: Terpenes and Steroids 2023, ISBN 978-3-11-072472-1 Volume 3: Plant Toxins: Alkaloids and Lectins 2025, ISBN 978-3-11-112740-8 Volume 4: Animal Toxins 2023, ISBN 978-3-11-072854-5 Volume 5: Fungal and Microbial Toxins 2025, ISBN 978-3-11-072856-9

This edited collection explores disease transmission and the ways that the designed environment has promoted or limited its spread. It discusses the many design factors that can be used for infection and disease control through lenses of history, public health, building technology, design, and education. This book calls on designers to consider the role of the built environment as the primary source of bacterial, viral, and fungal transfers through fomites, ventilation systems, and overcrowding and spatial organization. Through 19 original contributions, it provides an array of perspectives to understand how the designed environment may offer a reprieve from disease. The authors build a historical foundation of infection and disease, using examples ranging from lazarettos to leprosy centers to show how the ability to control infection and disease has long been a concern for humanity. The book goes on to discuss disease propagation, putting forth a variety of ideas to control the transmission of pathogens, including environmental design strategies, pedestrian dynamics, and open space. Its final chapters serve as a prospective way forward, focusing on COVID-19 and the built environment in a post-pandemic world. Written for students and academics of architecture, design, and urban planning, this book ignites creative action on the ways to design our built environment differently and more holistically. Please note that research on COVID-19 has exponentially grown since this volume was written in October 2020. References cited reflect the evolving nature of research studies at that time.

David Whitley's compelling study complicates our understanding of the classic Disney canon by focusing on the way images of the natural world are mediated within popular art for children. He examines a range of Disney's feature animations, from Snow White to Finding Nemo, to show that, even as the films communicate the central ideologies of their times, they also express the ambiguities and tensions that underlie these dominant values.