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The natural history of flowers / by Fogden, Michael,author.; Fogden, Patricia,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-205) and index.Flowers and humans -- The evolution of flowering plants -- Flowers -- Pollination syndromes -- Pollinator behavior -- Mimicry and deceit in flowers -- Flower predators, nectar thieves, and flower defenses -- Antipollinators -- The flower's final act: seed production and dispersal -- Seed dispersal syndromes -- Fruit spoilers and seed predators -- The seasonality of flowering and fruiting -- Pollination, seed dispersal, and coevolution -- Selected neotropical plant families, genera, and species -- Glossary.Flowers have played an important role in human culture for thousands of years, symbolizing love, sorrow, and renewal. They provide bursts of color to homes and gardens and convey messages to friends, family, and significant others. Yet we often overlook their real purpose--why do flowers exist and why are they certain colors, shapes, and smells? In nature, flowers are key to healthy ecosystems and play a functional role, increasing a plant's chances for survival. Flowers have evolved to attract specific pollinators and to take advantage of climate variables and animal migration to disperse seeds, ensuring that the species will survive. These fine-tuned methods have evolved over a long period of time, and the importance of pollination and seed dispersal to a healthy environment cannot be overstated. As climate change places pressure on animals and plants, it is also challenging these methods flowers have developed for survival. The Fogdens describe flowers' functions and structures, pollination and seed dispersal methods, and close the book with descriptions of their favorite tropical flowers. The information is illustrated with intimate photographs of flowers and pollinators.
Subjects: Flowers.; Human-plant relationships.; Animal-plant relationships.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Nature is never silent : how animals and plants communicate with each other / by Ziege, Madlen,author.;
Includes bibliographical references.In forests, fields, and even gardens, there is a constant exchange of information going on. Animals and plants must communicate with one another to survive, but they also tell lies, set traps, talk to themselves, and speak to each other in a variety of unexpected ways. Behavioral biologist Madlen Ziege reveals the fascinating world of nonhuman communication. In charming, humorous, and accessible prose, she shows how nature's language can help us to understand our own place in the natural world a little better.
Subjects: Animal-plant relationships.; Ecology.; Animal communication.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Made for each other : a symbiosis of birds and pines / by Lanner, Ronald M.(CARDINAL)330786;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 143-154) and index.1380L
Subjects: Jays; Pine; Animal-plant relationships.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The forgotten pollinators / by Buchmann, Stephen L.,author.(CARDINAL)331635; Nabhan, Gary Paul.(CARDINAL)164856;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-240) and index.Foreword / Edward O. Wilson -- Introduction: Remembering the Pollinators -- 1. Silent Springs and Fruitless Falls: The Impending Pollination Crisis -- 2. Flowers: Waiting for Their Ships to Come In -- 3. Pollinators: Waiting for the Bait to Pervade the Air -- 4. The Perils of Matchmaking: Pollination of Syndromes and Plant/Pollinator Landscapes -- 5. Bees in the Bestiary, Bats in the Belfry: A Menagerie of Pollinators -- 6. Fractured Fairy Tales: Disruptions in Fragmented Habitats -- 7. Need Nectar, Will Travel: Threats to Migratory Pollinators -- 8. Holding the Globe in Our Hands: The Relentless Pressures on Plants Pollinators -- 9. Keepers of the Flame: Honey Hunters and Beekeepers from Ancient to Present Times -- 10. New Bee on the Block: Competition Between Honeybees and Native Pollinators -- 11. The Little Lives Keeping Crops Fruitful: The Economics of Pollination -- 12. Cultivating Lasting Relationships: Pollinator Gardens and Ecological Restoration -- App. 1. A Call for a National Policy on Pollination -- App. 2. Pollinators of the Major Crop Plants -- App. 3. Conservation and Research Organizations -- App. 4. Sources -- App. 5. Pollination Classes for the World's Wild Flowering Plants -- App. 6. Common Agricultural Pesticides."In The Forgotten Pollinators, Stephen L. Buchmann, one of the world's leading authorities on bees and pollination, and Gary Paul Nabhan, award-winning writer and renowned crop ecologist, explore the vital but little-appreciated relationship between plants and the animals they depend on for reproduction - bees, beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bats, and countless other animals, some widely recognized and others almost unknown." "Scenes from around the globe - examining island flora and fauna on the Galapagos, counting bees in the Panamanian rain forest, witnessing an ancient honey-hunting ritual in Malaysia - bring to life the hidden relationships between plants animals and demonstrates the ways in which human society affects and is affected by those relationships. Buchmann and Nabhan combine vignettes from the field with expository discussions of ecology, botany, and crop science to present a lively and fascinating account of the ecological and cultural context of plant-pollinator relationships." "More than any other natural process, plant-pollinator relationships offer vivid examples of the connections between endangered species and threatened habitats. The authors explain how human-induced changes in pollinator populations - caused by overuse of chemical pesticides, unbridled development, and conversion of natural areas into monocultural cropland - can have a ripple effect on disparate species, ultimately leading to a "cascade of linked extinctions.""--Jacket.
Subjects: Pollinators.; Animal-plant relationships.; Biodiversity.;
Available copies: 3 / Total copies: 3
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Look once, look again : among the flowers / by Schwartz, David M.,author.(CARDINAL)338810; Kuhn, Dwight,photographer.(CARDINAL)196680;
Introduces, in simple text and photographs, the characteristics of a variety of flowers and some of the birds and insects that need flowers to survive.
Subjects: Animal-plant relationships; Flowers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Among the flowers / by Schwartz, David M.(CARDINAL)338810; Kuhn, Dwight,illustrator.(CARDINAL)196680;
Includes bibliographical references (page 23) and index.Introduces, in simple text and photographs, the characteristics of a variety of flowers and some of the birds and insects that need flowers to survive. Includes the sunflower, bleeding heart, daylily, rose, bumblebee, butterfly, and hummingbird.Accelerated Reader AR
Subjects: Flowers; Animal-plant relationships;
Available copies: 8 / Total copies: 11
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How do animals help plants reproduce? / by Owen, Ruth,1967-(CARDINAL)300402;
Includes bibliographical references (page 32) and index.It's all about teamwork -- A flower up close -- Time for visitors -- A special delivery -- All about pollination -- Making seeds -- A perfect partnership -- Bees and our food -- Insects at work -- Bird pollinators -- A world of pollinators -- Nature's gardeners -- Investigating the world of plants.
Subjects: Pollination; Animal-plant relationships;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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The garden of vegan : how plants can save the animals, the planet and our health / by West, Cleve,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.There was a time when garden designer Cleve West thought making a garden was a frivolous pursuit for the privileged. Two things changed his mind: designing a garden for a hospital and adopting a vegan lifestyle. Cleve's transition to veganism was a profound and varied learning experience. He learned more about nutrition than when he studied it as part of a sports science degree. He learned a great deal about propaganda in the food industry and how, contrary to what he'd been led to believe, the cows and chickens in the dairy industry are far from 'happy'. He learned that animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and a whole range of environmental catastrophes. He found that many illnesses have their origins in the consumption of animal products. He learned that a plant-based diet can alleviate some of these illnesses and sometimes even reverse them.
Subjects: Agricultural ecology.; Animal-plant relationships.; Veganism.; Sustainability.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Wildscape : trilling chipmunks, beckoning blooms, salty butterflies, and other sensory wonders of nature / by Lawson, Nancy,1970-author.(CARDINAL)342385;
Includes bibliographical references."From Nancy Lawson, author of The Humane Gardener, an insightful and personal exploration of the vibrant web of nature outside our back door--where animals and plants perceive and communicate using marvelous sensory capabilities we are only beginning to understand"--Lawson provides an insightful and personal exploration of the vibrant web of nature outside our back door. She shows how animals and plants perceive and communicate using marvelous sensory capabilities we are only beginning to understand. You'll learn of ultrasound clicks humans can't hear, and ultraviolet color humans can't see. By learning to appreciate the natural environment from the sensory perspective of our wild neighbors, we can learn how to respect and nurture the habitats they need to survive. -- adapted from back cover
Subjects: Informational works.; Human ecology.; Human-animal relationships.; Human-plant relationships.;
Available copies: 12 / Total copies: 12
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Abundant Earth : toward an ecological civilization / by Crist, Eileen,1961-author.(CARDINAL)845344;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-300) and index.Introduction -- Part One. The destruction of life and the human supremacy complex. Unraveling Earth's biodiversity ; Human supremacy and the roots of the ecological crisis ; The framework of resources and techno-managerialism -- Part Two. Discursive knots. Is the human impact natural? ; The trouble with debunking wilderness ; Freedom, entitlement, and the fate of the nonhuman world -- Part Three. Scaling down and pulling back. Dystopia at the doorstep; Welcoming limitations ; Restoring abundant Earth -- Epilogue : toward an ecological civilization.In Abundant Earth, Eileen Crist not only documents the rising tide of biodiversity loss, but also lays out the drivers of this wholesale destruction and how we can push past them. Looking beyond the familiar litany of causes--a large and growing human population, rising livestock numbers, expanding economies and international trade, and spreading infrastructures and incursions upon wildlands--she asks the key question: if we know human expansionism is to blame for this ecological crisis, why are we not taking the needed steps to halt our expansionism? Crist argues that to do so would require a two-pronged approach. Scaling down calls upon us to lower the global human population while working within a human-rights framework, to deindustrialize food production, and to localize economies and contract global trade. Pulling back calls upon us to free, restore, reconnect, and rewild vast terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, the pervasive worldview of human supremacy--the conviction that humans are superior to all other life-forms and entitled to use these life-forms and their habitats--normalizes and promotes humanity's ongoing expansion, undermining our ability to enact these linked strategies and preempt the mounting suffering and dislocation of both humans and nonhumans. Abundant Earth urges us to confront the reality that humanity will not advance by entrenching its domination over the biosphere. On the contrary, we will stagnate in the identity of nature-colonizer and decline into conflict as we vie for natural resources.
Subjects: Biodiversity conservation.; Human-animal relationships.; Human-plant relationships.;
Available copies: 3 / Total copies: 3
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Results 1 to 10 of 172 |