Mountain Islands and Desert Seas (The Louise Merrick Natural Environment, No 15)

" . . . a book to be savored and pondered. . . . a great service to a very special land."--John Tveten, Houston Chronicle

" . . . deeply rewarding reading for those even mildly interested in the environment and the region from the south of the Rio Grande to California's Imperial Valley."--Arizona Highways

Mountains rise like islands from deserts and grasslands along the U.S.-Mexican border. The stunningly varied borderlands offer a laboratory for studying historical trends and ecological cycles, as well as a refuge in which to experience natural history firsthand. In this engaging personal narrative, biologist Fred Gehlbach describes the stability and changes of the past century in the Borderlands' climate, landforms, and natural communities and in its distinctive plants and vertebrates. Historical sketches, maps, and striking photographs richly amplify the text, and a preface updates developments in the region since the book's original publication in 1981.

Saguaro Moon takes you on a journey through the Sonoran desert (and through the seasons) while educating you about deserts, the plant life, insects, birds, reptiles and other animals. Obscure facts are included along with references to other books, web references, and an invitation to become a Planet Scout. This is a great book for any child, teacher or home educator!

Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini has a talent in writing books that are fun and informative. This book details the changing of the seasons (month to month) in the desert environment as seen by a young girl and her friend.

Desert Cities: The Environmental History of Phoenix and Tucson (Pittsburgh Hist Urban Environ)

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Desert Cities: The Environmental History of Phoenix and Tucson (Pittsburgh Hist Urban Environ)
Michael F. Logan
Manufacturer: University of Pittsburgh Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Metropolitan Phoenix: Place Making And Community Building in the Desert (Metropolitan Portraits)

ASIN: 0822942941

Phoenix is known as the âValley of the Sun,â while Tucson is referred to as âThe Old Pueblo.â These nicknames epitomize the difference in the public’s perception of each city. Phoenix continues to sprawl as one of America’s largest and fastest-growing cities. Tucson has witnessed a slower rate of growth, and has only one quarter of Phoenix’s population. This was not always the case. Prior to 1920, Tucson had a larger population. How did two cities, with such close physical proximity and similar natural environments develop so differently?
Desert Cities examines the environmental circumstances that led to the starkly divergent growth of these two cities. Michael Logan traces this significant imbalance to two main factors: water resources and cultural differences. Both cities began as agricultural communities. Phoenix had the advantage of a larger water supply, the Salt River, which has four and one half times the volume of Tucson’s Santa Cruz River. Because Phoenix had a larger river, it received federal assistance in the early twentieth century for the Salt River project, which provided water storage facilities. Tucson received no federal aid. Moreover, a significant cultural difference existed. Tucson, though it became a U.S. possession in 1853, always had a sizable Hispanic population. Phoenix was settled in the 1870s by Anglo pioneers who brought their visions of landscape development and commerce with them.
By examining the factors of watershed, culture, ethnicity, terrain, political favoritism, economic development, and history, Desert Cities offers a comprehensive evaluation that illuminates the causes of growth disparity in two major southwestern cities and provides a model for the study of bi-city resource competition.

Charles Bowden has been an outspoken advocate for the desert Southwest since the 1970s. Recently his activism helped persuade the U.S. government to create the Sonoran Desert National Monument in southern Arizona. But in working for environmental preservation, Bowden refuses to be one who "outline[s] something straightforward, a manifesto with clear rules and a set of plans for others to follow." In this deeply personal book, he brings the Sonoran Desert alive, not as a place where well-meaning people can go to enjoy "nature," but as a raw reality that defies bureaucratic and even literary attempts to define it, that can only be experienced through the senses.

Inferno burns with Charles Bowden's passion for the desert he calls home. "I want to eat the dirt and lick the rock. Or leave the shade for the sun and feel the burning. I know I don't belong here. But this is the only place I belong," he says. His vivid descriptions, complemented by Michael Berman's acutely observed photographs of the Sonoran Desert, make readers feel the heat and smell the dryness, see the colors in earth and sky, and hear the singing of dry bones across the parched ground.

Written as "an antibiotic" during the time Bowden was lobbying the government to create the Sonoran Desert National Monument, Inferno repudiates both the propaganda and the lyricism of contemporary nature writing. Instead, it persuades us that "we need these places not to remember our better selves or our natural self or our spiritual self. We need these places to taste what we fear and devour what we are. We need these places to be animals because unless we are animals we are nothing at all. That is the price of being a civilized dude."

Drylands, which cover over half of the world's area, have witnessed rapid development, exploitation and change with the discovery of mineral reserves, urbanization, and population growth. Environmental management is critical to the conservation and sustainable use of resources. Now available in paperback, this comprehensive book offers a systematic study of the physical nature of drylands and the history of human response to and uses of these harsh landscapes. Detailed case studies including urban as well as pastoral drylands from California to Soviet Central Asia, the Middle East, the Sahara, and Australia contrast different management approaches and problems.

You will also learn amazing things, like how a cobra can still breathe while swallowing its prey. How a camel is dressed up in full regalia and how people live and eat in the desert.

Full-color photographs of the people who live in the desert
Pictures of creatures and plants that survive extreme temperatures
Pictures of beads, necklaces, Aboriginal necklaces, amulets, anklets, rings, bracelets, rock art.

Contents:
What is a desert?
What is a desert made of?
Seas of sand - I have a workout video that has the backdrop of sand that makes
life look smooth and relaxing. It is called: Alimacgraw yogamind&body
Water in the desert
After the rains
How plants survive
Insects
Reptiles
Birds
Mammals
Adapting to desert life
Ship of the desert
Camel regalia
Domesticated animals
Dwellings
Food and drink
Men's costume
Women's costume
Desert brides
Jewelry
Spinning and weaving
Arts and crafts
Exploring the desert

Loved seeing the picture of a "Desert Rose" that is a strange shaped crystal that is formed within the sand dunes in the Sahara.

This entire book just made me want to go find a beach!

Peoples of the Desert (Low, Robert, Peoples and Their Environments.)

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Disappointing

Peoples of the Desert (Low, Robert, Peoples and Their Environments.)
Robert Low
Manufacturer: PowerKids Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0823922960