The Nature of Vermont: Introduction and Guide to a New England EnvironmentThis expanded edition of an established work offers a generously illustrated natural history set in the context of the state's geologic and human pasts. A broad ecological overview written in engaging narrative for lay readers as well as naturalists, conservationists, and biologists, the book is enhanced with more than 140 photographs, drawings, maps, and diagrams. Also a practical guidebook, it directs people to where they can see what is being discussed, gives current references, and offers a complete directory of conservation organizations in the state. In the new edition, State Naturalist Charles W. Johnson describes many environmental, technological, and cultural changes: more moose and turkey vultures, fewer wood turtles and butternuts; refinement in our thinking about natural communities and endangered species; effects of development, pollution, acid rain, global warming, and invasive non-native species such as zebra mussels and Eurasian water milfoil; urban/rural clashes mirrored in such issues as the Northern Forests and clear-cutting; a sharpening focus on biodiversity, sustainability, and ecosystem management; the rise of conservation biology as a field of study. At the same time, Johnson includes Abenaki stories - Vermont's Native American legacy of respect for and identity with nature - that serve as reminders of how our fortunes are inextricably tied to those of nature. |
Contents
Physiographic Regions of Vermont | 25 |
Before We Came | 35 |
People on the Land | 43 |
Down a Mountain Across the Forest | 65 |
Coniferous Forests | 76 |
The Hardwoods | 101 |
Waters and Wetlands | 143 |
Bogs | 180 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abenakis acres alpine amphibians animals Ann Pesiri Swanson aquatic basin birds bogs boreal forest breeding Brian MacDonald Burlington common Connecticut River conservation crust deer Drawing by Ann ducks east eastern ecological eggs England environment environmental fields Fish and Wildlife flowers frogs geologic glacial glacier Gluskabe Green Mountains Groton State Forest grow habitat hardwoods hawk hunting Iapetus Ocean insects Lake Champlain land larvae live logs mammals maple marsh migration million mont Montpelier Mount Mansfield Native Americans Natural Area nest northern numbers ocean P.O. Box Park peaks Photo plants ponds and lakes population predators programs protection Recreation region rocks salamanders season shallow shrubs snake snow soils southern spawning species spring spruce state's streams summer swamps Tabaldak Taconic thrust faults tion trails trees trout tundra turtle University of Vermont vegetation Vermont Department Vermont Fish warbler wetlands wild winter wood woodlands zone