Introduction to California Soils and Plants: Serpentine, Vernal Pools, and Other Geobotanical Wonders / Edition 1

by Arthur R. Kruckeberg

Overview

Carnivorous pitcher plants, pygmy conifers, and the Tiburon jewel flower, restricted to a small patch of serpentine soil on Tiburon Peninsula in Marin County, are just a few of California's many amazing endemic plants—species that are unique to particular locales. California boasts an abundance of endemic plants precisely because it also boasts the richest geologic diversity of any place in North America, perhaps in the world. In lively prose, Arthur Kruckeberg gives a geologic travelogue of California's unusual soils and land forms and their associated plants—including serpentines, carbonate rocks, salt marshes, salt flats, and vernal pools—demonstrating along the way how geology shapes plant life. Adding a fascinating chapter to the story of California's remarkable biodiversity, this accessible book also draws our attention to the pressing need for conservation of the state's many rare and fascinating plants and habitats.

*148 outstanding, accurate photographs, more than 100 incolor, illustrate California's diverse flora

*Covers a wide range of locations including the Channel Islands, the Central Valley, wetlands, bristlecone pine forests, and bogs and fens

*Provides selected trip itineraries for viewing the state's geobotanical wonders

*Includes information on human influences on the California landscape from the early Spanish explores through the gold rush and to the present

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520233720
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	09/17/2006
Series:	California Natural History Guides , #86
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	296
Sales rank:	873,615
Product dimensions:	4.50(w) x 7.25(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Arthur R. Kruckeberg, Professor Emeritus of Botany at the University of Washington, is author of Best Wildflower Hikes: Washington (2004) Geology and Plant Life (2002), Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest (1996), Natural History of Puget Sound (1995), and California Serpentines: Flora, Vegetation, Geology, Soils (California, 1985).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: How Geology Shapes Plant Life

Chapter 1. Land Forms and Plant Life

Chapter 2. Plants and Their Soils

Chapter 3. The Serpentine Story

Chapter 4. Other Strange Plant-Soil Relationships

Chapter 5. Plant Distribution over Space and Time

Chapter 6. Human Influences

Epilogue: Geology Gone Wild
Glossary
Exploring California’s Geology and Plant Life
References
Index