Naturalist's Big Bend: An Introduction to the Trees and Shrubs, Wildflowers, Cacti, Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, Fish, and Insects (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series, 33)

Customer Reviews:

Nature boy, this book's for you.......2007-07-19

Naturalist's Big Bend is a comprehensive overview of the flora and fauna of the Big Bend National Park region in Texas. Big Bend is unique for a couple of reasons. First, because the US/Mexico border dips south there, many species are found in the US only in this region. Secondly, as the climate changed following the last ice age, other species found themselves islanded in the cooler mountain ecosystems as the plains around them became deserts. These "sky islands" hold unique flora and fauna that has remained isolated for thousands of years.

Authors Wauer and Fleming have comprehensive first-hand knowledge of the park that comes through in every chapter. The book provides the advantage not only of their expertise but of their access to many unpublished Park Service and other reports and surveys of the park. The bibliography is the definitive go-to guide for anyone wishing to research any aspect of Big Bend's ecosystem. However, for a more personal tour of the park, you might prefer For All Seasons: A Big Bend Journal by author Wauer.

The book makes an excellent reference for the knowledgeable biologist or biology buff planning, enjoying, or remembering a visit to Big Bend National Park. Casual tourists will find the detail overwhelming and the illustrations miserly. With a bigger budget, this could have been a stunning illustrated field guide. As it is, most species rely on description alone for identification. There are a few black-and-white plates of plants, a limited number of fascinating black-and-white photos of animals, and a select group of stunning color photos that illustrate the diverse habitats found within the park.

Good general naturalist's info.......2006-03-07

My husband and I both found this useful and interesting for our recent weeklong trip to Big Bend. I would recommend it more as preparatory reading before the trip, or evening reading at your room or campsite while in the park, than as a guide to specific areas or species. Also it is best used with oher books accompanying it rather than relying on it alone, such as hiking, lizard, flower, or birding book too, depending on your interests. The bibiography uses up about the last quarter of this rather slim book. So you may want to get it way ahead of your trip then order more books from the bibliography or elsewhere.

Great book, bad citations........2005-12-14

This is a neat little book summarizing the flora and fauna of Big Bend National Park. It covers plants, birds, mammals, invertebrates, fish, and reptiles and amphibians, and provides a brief history. It is not an identification guide, but a listing of species of interest with some facts about them. There are better resources of information about birds and plants, but the other topics are rarely covered elsewhere aside from checklists available at the park.

My only problem with this guide is that they have provided in-text citations that are not in the bibliography! If you are going to cite sources in the text, please provide complete information *somewhere*. The bibliography lists lots of great sources, just not ALL of the sources used in the book. This lack of attention to detail is the reason I gave this book anything less than 5 stars.

Plants and Animals at Big Bend .......2004-12-27

Big Bend National Park has a variety of habitats for plants and animals. I was surprised to read that Big Bend counts more bird species than any other National Park in the US. Most of the park is desert, but the Rio Grande attracts water-loving species and the higher elevations of the Chisos mountains support trees normally associated with the Rocky Mountains hundreds of miles further north.

This is a fine little book. It has many color illustrations of the rugged terrain of the Big Bend, historical photos, black and white photos of animals and plants, and line drawings of wildflowers for identification purposes.

The book offers a capsule history of the Big Bend and a description of the five ecological zones in the park: floodplain, desert shrub, desert grassland, woodland formation and woodland. A chapter each is devoted to describing trees and shrubs, wildflowers, cacti, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish, and insects and other invertebrates. An extensive bibliography will guide a reader who wants more information. The text is competently and clearly written with brief descriptions of each species and comments on its importance, uses, range, and habitat.

Smallchief

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Naturalist's Big Bend
Roland H. Wauer
Manufacturer: Texas a & M Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

NATURALIST'S BIG BEND. HANDBOOK TO THE TREES AND SHRUBS, WILDFLOWERS, CACTI, MAMMALS, BIRDS, REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS, FISH, INSECTS.

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NATURALIST'S BIG BEND. HANDBOOK TO THE TREES AND SHRUBS, WILDFLOWERS, CACTI, MAMMALS, BIRDS, REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS, FISH, INSECTS.
R. Wauer
Manufacturer: Peregrine Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WQ9YNG

Naturalist's Big Bend;: Handbook to the trees and shrubs, wildflowers, cacti, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish [and] insects

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Plants and Animals at Big Bend National Park

Naturalist's Big Bend;: Handbook to the trees and shrubs, wildflowers, cacti, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish [and] insects
Roland H Wauer
Manufacturer: Peregrine Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006CBZOW

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Plants and Animals at Big Bend National Park .......2004-12-27

Book Description

Because of their photosynthetic activity, plants represent the most important form of life on earth, and thus provide a rich and important source for investigation. By studying the levels of elements such as lead, cadmium and mercury in plants, vital information on background concentrations of such elements in the environments can be obtained. The growth in the use of instrumental multi-element techniques, such as neutron activation, X-ray fluorescence and atomic emission spectroscopy in the analysis of plant samples has led to significant advances in our ability to determine accurately the quantities of such elements present in plant samples. Instrumental Element and Multi-Element Analysis of Plant Samples: Methods and Applications presents the latest key advances that have taken place in a wide range of instrumentation, such as improvements in detection limits, reproducibility and accuracy. Potential problem areas such as representative sampling, sampling processes and accuracy are discussed in detail. Although concentrating on the analysis of plant samples, the book also considers general issues associated with multi-element analysis of environmental analysis in general. Instrumental Element and Multi-Element Analysis of Plant Samples: Methods and Applications will be of great interest to all those working in environmental analysis, particularly in the area of plant sample analysis. Its highly practical and inter-disciplinary approach will make it indispensable to chemists, biochemists, biologists and geologists interested in these areas.

Methods for Environmental Trace Analysis (Analytical Techniques in the Sciences (AnTs) *)

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Methods for Environmental Trace Analysis (Analytical Techniques in the Sciences (AnTs) *)
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In Bringing the Devil to His Knees: The Craft of Fiction and the Writing Life, seventeen award-winning writers--all expert teachers--share the secrets of creating compelling, imaginative stories and novels. A combination handbook, writer's companion, and collection of spirited personal essays, the book is filled with specific examples, hard-won wisdom, and compassionate guidance for the developing or experienced fiction writer.

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Rich with masterful examples and personal anecdotes, these imaginative essays provide hard-earned insight into a writer's work. The book will interest not only those seeking inspiration and guidance to become stronger writers, but also readers of contemporary literary fiction, who will find a number of surprising and original approaches to the writer's work by award-winning practitioners adept at teaching others what they know.

Charles Baxter is author of several novels, including The Feast of Love, Shadow Play, and First Light. and collections of stories including Believers and A Relative Stranger. He teaches writing at the University of Michigan. Peter Turchi is author of the novel The Girls Next Door, a collection of stories, Magician, and a book of non-fiction, The Pirate Prince. He is Director of the MFA Program for Writers, Warren Wilson College.

Customer Reviews:

A Must for Any Serious Writer.......2006-03-15

Serious, well-written, thoughtful and engaging. For any writer who seriously wants to pursue the craft of fiction, this is a must.

Intimacy with the Devil.......2005-12-06

Although this book wasn't necessarily riveting, envisioning the devil at the heart of fiction writing is most intriguing. Baxter and Turchi combine essays and anecdotes dealing with issues on, technique, devices, and strategies. These anecdotes allow the reader to engage in a sort of dialogue with other published writers who may experience similar problems with creating fiction.

In this book the Devil is interpreted as inhibition; what ever is keeping the writer from writing. But it is the intimacy with this Devil (bringing Him to His knees) that is necessary in order to progress as a fiction writer. This Devil teaches the writer more about him/herself than anything else, as long as he is acknowldged and entertained.

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