Download or read book Playas of the Great Plains written by Loren M. Smith and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2003-11-01 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shallow wetlands that occur primarily in semi-arid to arid environments, playas are keystone ecosystems in the western Great Plains of North America. Providing irreplaceable habitat for native plants and animals, including migratory birds, they are essential for the maintenance of biotic diversity throughout the region. Playas also serve to recharge the aquifer that supplies much of the water for the Plains states. At the same time, however, large-scale habitat changes have endangered playas across the Great Plains, making urgent the need to understand their ecology and implement effective conservation measures. This book provides a state-of-the-art survey of all that is currently known about Great Plains playa ecology and conservation. Loren Smith synthesizes his own extensive research with other published studies to define playas and characterize their origin, development, flora, fauna, structure, function, and diversity. He also thoroughly explores the human relationship with playas from prehistoric times, when they served as campsites for the Clovis peoples, to today's threats to playa ecosystems from agricultural activities and global climate change. A blueprint for government agencies, private conservation groups, and concerned citizens to save these unique prairie ecosystems concludes this landmark study.
Download or read book Playa Wetlands and Wildlife on the Southern Great Plains written by R. Wayne Nelson and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Playa Wetlands and Wildlife on the Southern Great Plains written by R. Wayne Nelson and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Hydrologic and Ecologic Influence of Playa Basins in the Southern High Plains Texas and New Mexico written by Laura M. Bexfield and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ecology and Conservation of Great Plains Vertebrates written by Fritz L. Knopf and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The frontier images of America embrace endless horizons, majestic herds of native ungulates, and romanticized life-styles of nomadie peoples. The images were mere reflections of vertebrates living in harmony in an ecosystem driven by the unpre dictable local and regional effects of drought, frre, and grazing. Those effects, often referred to as ecological "disturbanees," are rather the driving forces on which species depended to create the spatial and temporal heterogeneity that favored ecological prerequisites for survival. Alandscape viewed by European descendants as monotony interrupted only by extremes in weather and commonly referred to as the "Great American Desert," this country was to be rushed through and cursed, a barrier that hindered access to the deep soils of the Oregon country, the rich minerals of California and Colorado, and the religious freedom sought in Utah. Those who stayed (for lack of resources or stamina) spent a century trying to moderate the ecological dynamics of Great Plains prairies by suppressing fires, planting trees and exotic grasses, poisoning rodents, diverting waters, and homogenizing the dynamies of grazing with endless fences-all creating bound an otherwise boundless vista. aries in Historically, travelers and settlers referred to the area of tallgrasses along the western edge of the deciduous forest and extending midway across Kansas as the "True Prairie. " The grasses thlnned and became shorter to the west, an area known then as the Great Plains.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of the Great Plains written by David J. Wishart and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 962 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Wishart and the staff of the Center for Great Plains Studies have compiled a wide-ranging (pun intended) encyclopedia of this important region. Their objective was to 'give definition to a region that has traditionally been poorly defined,' and they have
Download or read book Playa Wetlands and Wildlife on the Southern Great Plains written by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Office of Biological Services and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wetland Habitats of North America written by Darold P. Batzer and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2012-05-22 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Wetland Habitats of North America is essential reading for everyone who studies, manages, or visits North American wetlands. It fills an important void in the wetland literature, providing accessible and succinct descriptions of all of the continent’s major wetland types.” Arnold van der Valk, Iowa State University “Batzer and Baldwin have compiled the most comprehensive compendium of North American wetland habitats and their ecology that is presently available—a must for wetland scientists and managers.” Irving A. Mendelssohn, Louisiana State University "If you want to gain a broad understanding of the ecology of North America’s diverse wetlands, Wetland Habitats of North America is the book for you. Darold Batzer and Andrew Baldwin have assembled an impressive group of regional wetland scientists who have produced a virtual encyclopedia to the continent’s wetlands. Reading the book is like a road trip across the Americas with guided tours of major wetland types by local experts. Your first stop will be to coastal wetlands with eight chapters covering tidal wetlands along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. Then you’ll travel inland where you can visit any or all of 18 types ranging from bottomland swamps of the Southeast to pothole marshes of the Northern Prairies to montane wetlands of the Rockies to tropical swamps of Central America and desert springs wetlands. All in one book—I’m impressed! Every wetlander should add this book to her or his swampland library. Ralph Tiner, University of Massachusetts–Amherst
Download or read book Playa Wetlands and Wildlife on the Southern Great Plains written by R. Wayne Nelson and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plant Communities of Playa Wetlands in the Southern Great Plains written by David A. Haukos and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 63 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Hydrology Conservation and Management of Runoff Water in Playas on the Southern High Plains written by Victor L. Hauser and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Playas in Kansas and High Plains written by Catherine S. Evans and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Common Flora of the Playa Lakes written by David A. Haukos and published by Texas Tech University Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Playa Lakes are unique, freshwater wetlands found in Southeastern Colorado, Southwestern Kansas, Western Oklahoma, Eastern New Mexico, and Northwest Texas. These wetlands provide the principal remaining native habitat for wildlife in this area. More that three hundred species of plants have been identified from the twenty-five to thirty thousand Playa wetlands occurring throughout the High Plains Region of the Southern Great Plains. This guide provides quick, accurate identification of seventy-two of the most common plants occurring in the Playa wetlands. More than 140 color photographs highlight key field identification characteristics for each species description. An introduction to the ecology of Playa Lakes, complete list of all known plant species, and a glossary of terms will make this a valuable reference for amateur and professional alike.
Download or read book Playas written by Jim Steiert and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining the history of playas and the roles they play in life on the Llano Estacado, the author explains how and why these drainage basins exist and the controversy they generate. With Meinzer's stunning photographs, Playas is a tribute to a unique environmental phenomenon of the Plains.
Download or read book The Soils of the USA written by L.T. West and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-19 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an overview of the distribution, properties, and function of soils in the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, and its Caribbean territories. It discusses the history of soil surveys and pedological research in the U.S., and offers general descriptions of the country’s climate, geology and geomorphology. For each Land Resource Region (LRR) – a geographic/ecological region of the country characterized by its own climate, geology, landscapes, soils, and agricultural practices – there is a chapter with details of the climate, geology, geomorphology, pre-settlement and current vegetation, and land use, as well as the distribution and properties of major soils including their genesis, classification, and management challenges. The final chapters address topics such as soils and humans, and the future challenges for soil science and soil surveys in the U.S. Maps of soil distribution, pedon descriptions, profile images, and tables of properties are included throughout the text.
Download or read book Wetland Techniques written by James T. Anderson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-10-10 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wetlands serve many important functions and provide numerous ecological services such as clean water, wildlife habitat, nutrient reduction, and flood control. Wetland science is a relatively young discipline but is a rapidly growing field due to an enhanced understanding of the importance of wetlands and the numerous laws and policies that have been developed to protect these areas. This growth is demonstrated by the creation and growth of the Society of Wetland Scientists which was formed in 1980 and now has a membership of 3,500 people. It is also illustrated by the existence of 2 journals (Wetlands and Wetlands Ecology and Management) devoted entirely to wetlands. To date there has been no practical, comprehensive techniques book centered on wetlands, and written for wetland researchers, students, and managers. This techniques book aims to fill that gap. It is designed to provide an overview of the various methods that have been used or developed by researchers and practitioners to study, monitor, manage, or create wetlands. Including many methods usually found only in the peer-reviewed or gray literature, this 3-volume set fills a major niche for all professionals dealing with wetlands.
Download or read book Quaternary Evolution of Playa Lakes on the Southern High Plains written by Susan Davis Hovorka and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
