North America's Great Lakes country has experienced centuries of upheaval. Its landscapes are utterly changed from what they were five hundred years ago. The region's superabundant fish and wildlife and its magnificent forests and prairies astonished European newcomers who called it an earthly paradise but then ushered in an era of disease, warfare, resource depletion, and land development that transformed it forever. The Once and Future Great Lakes Country is a history of environmental change in the Great Lakes region, looking as far back as the last ice age, and also reflecting on modern trajectories of change, many of them positive. John Riley chronicles how the region serves as a continental crossroads, one that experienced massive declines in its wildlife and native plants in the centuries after European contact, and has begun to see increased nature protection and re-wilding in recent decades. Yet climate change, globalization, invasive species, and urban sprawl are today exerting new pressures on the region’s ecology. Covering a vast geography encompassing two Canadian provinces and nine American states, The Once and Future Great Lakes Country provides both a detailed ecological history and a broad panorama of this vast region. It blends the voices of early visitors with the hopes of citizens now.
Here you will find a wealth of information on the fauna, flora, and natural wonders of the Kawarthas. The Kawarthas sit astride the Canadian Shield and fertile lands to the south. This is cottage country a place where people are closer to nature and where children and adults remark on the sightings of animals, birds, and butterflies from windows and lakeside chairs and ask questions about what they see. This book is a valuable asset and will answer many of these questions. It offers an alternative to a shelf of field guides and deals with what can be expected in a relatively small but uniquely rich environment close to home. Nature in the Kawarthas presents a wealth of information about the birds, mammals, insects, flowers, reptiles, and amphibians that inhabit this special area. It discusses rare habitats and the behaviours of animals ranging from frogs to birds of prey. A Places to Go section recommends the best areas to visit to explore the natural wonders of this amazing region and its treasure of wild biodiversity. It is a true layman’s guide to nature in the Kawarthas. The Peterborough Field Naturalists (PFN) is a registered charity and active club in Peterborough, Ontario, that dates back to 1940. The authors include knowledgeable naturalists, teachers, and university and ministry professionals in a wide variety of wildlife fields. Their goal is to know, appreciate, and conserve nature in all its forms.
One of the critical issues of our time is the dwindling capacity of the planet to provide life support for a large and growing human population. Based on a symposium on ecosystem health, Managing for Healthy Ecosystems identifies key issues that must be resolved if there is to be progress in this complex area, such as: Evolving methods f