North American Terrestrial Vegetation / Edition 2

by Michael G. Barbour, William Dwight Billings

Overview

This new edition is a major contribution to botanical and ecological literature. It provides comprehensive coverage of the major vegetation types of North America, from the arctic tundra of Alaska to the tropical forests of Central America. Each chapter describes the composition, architecture, environment, and conservation status of each ecosystem. In addition, information is included on the abiotic environment, paleoecology, productivity, nutrient cycling, autecological behavior of dominant species, environmental issues, management problems, the role of natural disturbance, and critical areas for future research. This new edition has additional chapters on freshwater wetlands, coastal marine wetlands, temperate Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Hawaiian Islands. Every chapter has been thoroughly updated and now includes information on habitat loss and restoration-preservation programs. This is an outstanding new edition of a well-received text and it is essential reading for students and researchers in plant science, ecology, and conservation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521559867
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/28/1999
Edition description:	REVISED
Pages:	724
Product dimensions:	7.09(w) x 9.96(h) x 1.34(d)

Table of Contents

Contributors; Preface to the first edition; Preface to the second edition; 1. Arctic tundra and polar desert biome Lawrence C. Bliss; 2. The taiga and boreal forest Deborah L. Elliot-Fisk; 3. Forests and meadows of the Rocky Mountains Robert K. Peet; 4. Pacific northwest forests Jerry F. Franklin and Charles B. Halpern; 5. California upland forests and woodlands Michael G. Barbour and Richard A. Minnich; 6. Chaparral Jon E. Keeley; 7. Intermountain valleys and lower mountain slopes Neil E. West and James A. Young; 8. Warm deserts James A. MacMahon; 9. Grasslands Phillip L. Sims and Paul G. Risser; 10. Eastern deciduous forests Hazel R. Delcourt and Paul A. Delcourt; 11. Vegetation of the southeastern coastal plain Norman L. Christensen; 12. Freshwater wetlands Curtis J. Richardson; 13. Saltmarshes and mangroves Irving A. Mendelssohn and Karen L. McKee; 14. Alpine vegetation William Dwight Billings; 15. Mexican temperate vegetation Alejandro Velázquez, Victor Manuel Toledo and Isolda Luna; 16. The Caribbean Ariel E. Lugo, Julio Figueroa Colón and Frederick N. Scatena; 17. Tropical and subtropical vegetation of Mesoamerica Gary S. Hartshorn; 18. Vegetation of the Hawaiian Islands Lloyd L. Loope; Subject index; Species index.

Editorial Reviews

"Far more than a mere compilation of vegetation types, this book synthesizes our current understanding of the history, dynamics, and physical setting of the continent's plant cover...as a text and a reference for field scientists at all levels it is unsurpassed as a guide to the vegetation blanketing North America and to the processes structuring that vegetation." Ecology

"...will be the standard reference on North American plant communities for quite some time" Bioscience

"Replete with photographs, diagrams, graphs and tables, each treatment ends with extensive reference sections. Students, researchers traveling to new regions, and many other professionals will welcome this book." Choice

"An important book for academic as well as personal libraries." Northeastern Naturalist

"...this single treatise is an enlightening series of chapters... It goes well beyond the traditional overview of identification of dominant species and zonal synopses of the typical field guide or chapter in a textbook... each chapter stands alone as a useful primer to the patterns and process within a particular vegetation type... Any student of vegetation should read some of this volume, and it should be on the desk of any field researcher in North America." Charles V. Cogbill, Ecoscience

"This second edition of perhaps the most definitive textbook of North American ecology will by turns inform, delight, challenge and rebuke readers of many interests. Primarily a didactic achievement of a high order of scholarship by a large number of expert contributors, this fascinating volume will reward the casual reader and the intensely focused student alike with insightful surveys of the thousands of habitats in which vegetation flourishes or struggles to survive." Chicago Botanic Garden

From the Publisher