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The Charles W. Morgan
As America’s oldest merchant ship still afloat and the only wooden survivor of the once-vital whaling industry, the Charles W. Morgan has a complex story to tell. Elaborating on earlier volumes on the ship's history at Mystic Seaport Museum, this new book offers an expanded account, chronicling the ship's construction and launch in 1841 through its Thirty-Eighth Voyage in 2014—the first time the Morgan had been sailed in more than ninety years—and its continuing role today as an historic icon and the Museum’s flagship vessel. Chapters paint a picture of how whaling developed in Europe and the ways New England colonists adopted it as a profitable venture, and then, through the ship’s own story, proceed to sketch the evolution of America’s relationship with nature—and the whale, specifically—and with the many peoples of the world who were encountered by, or served aboard, a whaleship. This is the story of a National Historic Landmark—one that reflects our changing relationship with the natural world and with the diverse populations of the globe through two centuries of American history.
How Life Increases Biodiversity
This book argues that organisms and their interactions create and maximize biodiversity. The evidence for this autocatalytic hypothesis has been collated and integrated into this provocative argument. Natural selection favors the increase of biodiversity. Organisms can be causative agents contributing to major macroevolutionary transitions. Species tend to have a net positive effect on biodiversity. All species are ecosystem engineers. Mutualism and commensalism are common and fundamental, and these coevolved interspecific interactions frequently generate enormous increases in biodiversity. Competition generally does not decrease biodiversity, and often leads to evolutionary innovation. Plan...
The Green Republic
With over 25 percent of its land set aside in national parks and other protected areas, Costa Rica is renowned worldwide as "the green republic." In this very readable history of conservation in Costa Rica, Sterling Evans explores the establishment of the country's national park system as a response to the rapid destruction of its tropical ecosystems due to the expansion of export-related agriculture. Drawing on interviews with key players in the conservation movement, as well as archival research, Evans traces the emergence of a conservation ethic among Costa Ricans and the tangible forms it has taken. In Part I, he describes the development of the national park system and "the grand contradiction" that conservation occurred simultaneously with massive deforestation in unprotected areas. In Part II, he examines other aspects of Costa Rica's conservation experience, including the important roles played by environmental education and nongovernmental organizations, campesino and indigenous movements, ecotourism, and the work of the National Biodiversity Institute.
California's Wild Gardens
One hundred top California plant biologists share their favorite wildflower spots in the state with the help of gorgeous photographs, and alert readers to the conservation status of the plants.
Citizen Scientist
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2016: “Intelligent and impassioned, Citizen Scientist is essential reading for anyone interested in the natural world.” Award-winning writer Mary Ellen Hannibal has long reported on scientists’ efforts to protect vanishing species, but it was only through citizen science that she found she could take action herself. As she wades into tide pools, spots hawks, and scours mountains, she discovers the power of the heroic volunteers who are helping scientists measure—and even slow—today’s unprecedented mass extinction. Citizen science may be the future of large-scale field research—and our planet’s last, best hope.
Biological Diversity
One of the cornerstones of life's wonders is the vast array of species filling the planet. From plants to animals to humans, there is no shortage of beings to provide 'spice of life' variety is said to be. Periodically, scientists announce the discovery of a 'new' form of life, so it seems as if Earth is capable of producing new species just to keep us on our toes. At times, the immense breadth of living things can even feel overwhelming, as one pauses to ponder how numerically insignificant humans are when compared to the insect population. Given the biological diversity of the planet, it is incumbent upon humans to safeguard the natural beauty of the environment. To that end, conservation ...
National Union Catalog
Includes entries for maps and atlases.
