The legacy of Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) looms large over the natural sciences. His 1799–1804 research expedition to Central and South America with botanist Aimé Bonpland set the course for the great scientific surveys of the nineteenth century, and inspired such essayists and artists as Emerson, Goethe, Thoreau, Poe, and Church. The chronicles of the expedition were published in Paris after Humboldt’s return, and first among them was the 1807 “Essay on the Geography of Plants.” Among the most cited writings in natural history, after the works of Darwin and Wallace, this work appears here for the first time in a complete English-language translation. Covering far more than its title implies, it represents the first articulation of an integrative “science of the earth, ” encompassing most of today’s environmental sciences. Ecologist Stephen T. Jackson introduces the treatise and explains its enduring significance two centuries after its publication.
Although, as W.D. Billings notes in his chapter in this book. the development of physiological ecology can be traced back to the very beginnings of the study of ecology it is clear that the modern development of this field in North America is due in the large part to the efforts of Billings alone. The foundation that Billings laid in the late 1950s came from his own studies on deserts and subsequently arctic and alpine plants, and also from his enormous success in instilling enthusiasm for the field in the numerous students attracted to the plant ecology program at Duke University. Billings' own studies provided the model for subsequent work in this field. Physiological techniques. normally confined to the laboratory. were brought into the field to examine processes under natural environmental conditions. These field studies were accompanied by experiments under controlled conditions where the relative impact of various factors could be assessed and further where genetic as opposed to environmental influences could be separated. This blending of field and laboratory approaches promoted the design of experiments which were of direct relevance to understanding the distribution and abundance of plants in nature. Physiological mechanisms were studied and assessed in the context of the functioning of plants under natural conditions rather than as an end in itself.
In the spring of 1969 a small meeting was convened at the CSIRO Riverina Laboratory, Deniliquin, New South Wales, to discuss the biology of the genus Atriplex, a group of plants considered by those who attended to be of profound importance both in relation to range management in the region and as a tool in physiological research. The brief report of this meeting (Jones, 1970) now serves as a marker for the subsequent remarkable increase in research on this genus, and served then to interest the editors of the Ecological Studies Series in the present volume. This was an exciting time in plant physiology, particularly in the areas of ion absorption and photosynthesis, and unknowingly several laboratories were engaged in parallel studies of these processes using the genus Atriplex. It was also a time at which it seemed that numerical methods in plant ecology could be used to delineate significant processes in arid shrubland ecosystems. Nevertheless, to presume to illustrate and integrate plant physiology and ecology using examples from a single genus was to presume much. The deficiencies which became increasingly apparent during the preparation of the present book were responsible for much new research described in these pages.
New Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundaton (Andrea C. Harkins), Bass Foundation, Ruth Andersson May, Mary G. Palko, Amon G. Carter Foundation, Margret M. Rimmer, Mike and Eva Sandlin.
JONA Volume 50 Number 1 - Spring 2016 Tales from the River Bank: An In Situ Stone Bowl Found along the Shores of the Salish Sea on the Southern Northwest Coast of British Columbia - Rudy Reimer, Pierre Freile, Kenneth Fath, and John Clague Localized Rituals and Individual Spirit Powers: Discerning Regional Autonomy through Religious Practices in the Coast Salish Past - Bill Angelbeck Assessing the Nutritional Value of Freshwater Mussels on the Western Snake River - Jeremy W. Johnson and Mark G. Plew Snoqualmie Falls: The First Traditional Cultural Property in Washington State Listed in the National Register of Historic Places - Jay Miller with Kenneth Tollefson The Archaeology of Obsidian Occurrence in Stone Tool Manufacture and Use along Two Reaches of the Northern Mid-Columbia River, Washington - Sonja C. Kassa and Patrick T. McCutcheon The Right Tool for the Job: Screen Size and Sample Size in Site Detection - Bradley Bowden Alphonse Louis Pinart among the Natives of Alaska - Richard L. Bland
All around us there are wild plants good for food, medicine, clothing, and shelter, but most of us don't know how to identify or use them. Delena Tull amply supplies that knowledge in this book, one of the first focused specifically on plants that grow in Texas and surrounding regions of the South and Southwest. Extensively illustrated with black-and-white drawings and color photos, this book includes the following special features: Recipes for foods made from edible wild plants. Wild teas and spices. Wild plant dyes, with instructions for preparing the plants and dying wool, cotton, and other materials. Instructions for preparing fibers for use in making baskets, textiles, and paper. Information on wild plants used for making rubber, wax, oil, and soap. Information on medicinal uses of plants. An identification guide to hay fever plants and plants that cause rashes. Instructions for distinguishing edible from poisonous berries. Detailed information on poisonous plants, including poison ivy, oak, and sumac, as well as herbal treatments for their rashes.
The White-Inyo Range--rising sharply from the eastern edge of Owens Valley--is one of the most extraordinary landscapes in the world. High, dry, and amazingly diverse, it boasts an expansive alpine tundra and features the oldest living species on earth--the 4,000-year-old Bristlecone Pines. This colorful and authoritative volume assembles a wealth of information of deep interest to the hikers and scientists attracted to White-Inyo's altitude and isolation. The nearly two dozen contributors to the volume are leading experts on the flora and fauna, the geology, geomorphology, meteorology, anthropology, and archaeology of the area. The book offers descriptions of more than 650 kinds of living organisms, from the handful of fish to the abundance of reptile, amphibian, bird and plant species. (It provides descriptions of hundreds of flowering plants.) It contains an 8-color geologic map and a roadside guide that enables the visitor to make sense of the area's complex geological history. Readers will also learn about air currents that make the range a delight for sailplane pilots and create strange cloud formations. And a special chapter tells what is known of the Native Americans who moved up and down the mountain slopes in response to seasonal changes. For anyone who wishes to visit this astonishing area or to do research there, this volume will be a unique, comprehensive resource. The White-Inyo Range--rising sharply from the eastern edge of Owens Valley--is one of the most extraordinary landscapes in the world. High, dry, and amazingly diverse, it boasts an expansive alpine tundra and features the oldest living species on earth--the 4,000-year-old Bristlecone Pines. This colorful and authoritative volume assembles a wealth of information of deep interest to the hikers and scientists attracted to White-Inyo's altitude and isolation. The nearly two dozen contributors to the volume are leading experts on the flora and fauna, the geology, geomorphology, meteorology, anthropology, and archaeology of the area. The book offers descriptions of more than 650 kinds of living organisms, from the handful of fish to the abundance of reptile, amphibian, bird and plant species. (It provides descriptions of hundreds of flowering plants.) It contains an 8-color geologic map and a roadside guide that enables the visitor to make sense of the area's complex geological history. Readers will also learn about air currents that make the range a delight for sailplane pilots and create strange cloud formations. And a special chapter tells what is known of the Native Americans who moved up and down the mountain slopes in response to seasonal changes. For anyone who wishes to visit this astonishing area or to do research there, this volume will be a unique, comprehensive resource.
Papers originally presented at A.N.U. Seminars, October - December 1968; includes; 1) Sea level changes and land links - J.N. Jennings, 2) Evidence for late Quaternary climates - R.W. Galloway, 3) Vegetation, soils and climate in late Quaternary southeastern Australia - A.B. Costin, 4) River systems and climatic changes in southeastern Australia - Simon Pels, 5) Pleistocene salinities and climatic change; evidence from lakes and lunettes in southeastern Australia - J.M. Bowler, 6) The Australian arid zone as a prehistoric environment - J.A. Mabbutt, 7) Man, fauna and climate in Aboriginal Australia - J.H. Calaby, 8) Cave sediments as palaeoenvironmental indicators, and the sedimentary sequence in Koonalda Cave - R. Frank, 9) The archaeology of Koonalda Cave - R.V.S. Wright, 10) Coastal Aborigines of southeastern Australia - R.J. Lampert, 11) Prehistory in the Cape York Peninsula - R.V.S. Wright, 12) Man and environment in northwest Arnhem Land - Carmel White, 13) Prehistoric research in Timor - I.C. Glover, 14) New Guinea and Australian prehistory - J.P. White, 15) Australian Aboriginal food plants; some ecological and culture-historical implications - J. Golson, 16) Open sites and the ethnographic approach to the archaeology of hunter-gatherers, 17) Habitat and economy; a historical perspective - R. Lawrence, 18) Arid region Aborigines; the Pintubi - J.P.M. Long, 19) The demography of hunters and farmers in Tasmania - R. Jones, 20) Changes in the Aboriginal population of Victoria, 1863-1966 - Diane E. Barwick, 21) The racial affinities and origins of the Australian Aborigines - A.G. Thorne, 22) Genetic evidence and its implications for Aboriginal prehistory - R.L. Kirk, 23) Linguistic evidence and Aboriginal origins - D.T. Tryon, 24) Art and Aboriginal prehistory - R. Edwards, 25) Aboriginal social evolution; a retrospective view - D.J. Mulvaney.