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This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the…
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This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills (edition 1995)

by Paul A. Johnsgard

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1911,135,847 (4.5)None
The Nebraska Sandhills is the largest area of sand dunes in the western hemisphere, covering an area about as large as Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island combined. Unlike most dunes, the Sandhills region supports an astonishing variety of wildlife.   Sixty million years ago the area lay submerged in a vast inland sea. As the land lifted and the waters receded, the sandhills were formed, built upon a sandy floor above a sandy basement. Paul A. Johnsgard's appreciation for the region includes its evolution, a process that continues today making a very special place, patiently shaped by water, wind, and time.   Sometimes 450 feet higher than their sloping valleys, the hills themselves are almost entirely covered with plants that manage to survive on an unstable substrate and in a climate of merciless heat and cold. They provide homes and resting places for rare species and sustain the livelihoods of a remarkable variety of people.   Though firmly established in science, this book is an extended love letter to the Sandhills region and its people, plants, and animals. Johnsgard is now in his third decade of research in the Sandhills. This Fragile Land lets others see what he sees, a land with a fascinating range of geological, biological, and ecological vistas.… (more)
Member:stephen_clwyd
Title:This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills
Authors:Paul A. Johnsgard
Info:University of Nebraska Press (1995), Hardcover, 256 pages
Collections:Your library
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Tags:Nebraska, natural history, places that own themselves

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This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills by Paul A. Johnsgard

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In the manner of Aldo Leopold, Johnsgard writes with a love of the land, in a layman's tone, through the eyes of a scientist. Lay people reading this, however, may be somewhat discouraged by the tables and graphs; these could be skipped, and still get the idea of the work. Johnsgard obviously loves the Sandhills, and his love shines through. A good book, well worth the read, but spoiled by the last sentence in which he dismisses all Ecologists with a statement so false that it is obviously a bone to his readers to compensate for the fact that he didn't give agriculture a pass in discussing human impacts in the Sandhills. ( )
  Devil_llama | Dec 20, 2014 |
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The Nebraska Sandhills is the largest area of sand dunes in the western hemisphere, covering an area about as large as Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island combined. Unlike most dunes, the Sandhills region supports an astonishing variety of wildlife.   Sixty million years ago the area lay submerged in a vast inland sea. As the land lifted and the waters receded, the sandhills were formed, built upon a sandy floor above a sandy basement. Paul A. Johnsgard's appreciation for the region includes its evolution, a process that continues today making a very special place, patiently shaped by water, wind, and time.   Sometimes 450 feet higher than their sloping valleys, the hills themselves are almost entirely covered with plants that manage to survive on an unstable substrate and in a climate of merciless heat and cold. They provide homes and resting places for rare species and sustain the livelihoods of a remarkable variety of people.   Though firmly established in science, this book is an extended love letter to the Sandhills region and its people, plants, and animals. Johnsgard is now in his third decade of research in the Sandhills. This Fragile Land lets others see what he sees, a land with a fascinating range of geological, biological, and ecological vistas.

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