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Loading... A Neotropical Companion: An Introduction to the Animals, Plants and Ecosystems of the New World Tropics (original 1989; edition 1997)by John C. Kricher (Author)
Work InformationA Neotropical Companion by John Kricher (1989)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This is a great book for anyone taking a tourist trip to the Neotropics and who wants a better understanding of what they'll be seeing. While the illustrations are beautiful, they lack examples of commonly mentioned plants. Included photographic plates would be a definite plus. Although it's probably the best example I've seen of scientific writing for the layman, at times it seems to try too hard to walk the line between the average traveler and someone with an advanced education in the ecological sciences. In other words, it is probably too detailed for one and not sufficiently detailed for the other. Still, a fun read. ( ) A Neotropical Companion is a sort of travel guide, textbook and scientific monograph all rolled into one. It's very serious when weighing differing opinions on, for instance, the formation and persistence of savannah. Every twenty pages or so, however, the author throws in a little pun or strange animal sighting to keep you smiling (e.g. "hamburgers on the halfshell" p. 211 or "Bullet ants tend to be rather solitary, but one is quite enough" p. 328). Great read for travelers, naturalists or anyone interested in tropical ecosystems. no reviews | add a review
A Neotropical Companion is an extraordinarily readable introduction to the American tropics, the lands of Central and South America, their remarkable rainforests and other ecosystems, and the creatures that live there. It is the most comprehensive one-volume guide to the Neotropics available today. Widely praised in its first edition, it remains a book of unparalleled value to tourists, students, and scientists alike. This second edition has been substantially revised and expanded to incorporate the abundance of new scientific information that has been produced since it was first published in 1989. Major additions have been made to every chapter, and new chapters have been added on Neotropical ecosystems, human ecology, and the effects of deforestation. Biodiversity and its preservation are discussed throughout the book, and Neotropical evolution is described in detail. This new edition offers all new drawings and photographs, many of them in color. As enthusiastic readers of the first edition will attest, this is a charming book. Wearing his learning lightly and writing with ease and humor, John Kricher presents the complexities of tropical ecology as accessible and nonintimidating. Kricher is so thoroughly knowledgeable and the book is so complete in its coverage that general readers and ecotourists will not need any other book to help them identify and understand the plants and animals, from birds to bugs, that they will encounter in their travels to the New World tropics. At the same time, it will fascinate armchair travelers and students who may get no closer to the Neotropics than this engagingly written book. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)577.098Natural sciences and mathematics Life Sciences, Biology Ecology Properties of Living Matter Biography And History South AmericaLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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