"Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute." Includes index.
Contents:
How to use this book -- Forest field marks -- Eastern forest communities -- Communities of plants and animals -- Eastern forest communities -- Eastern deciduous forest communities -- Southern forest communities -- Disturbance and pioneer plants -- Ecological succession : the process of vegetation development over time -- Landscape patches, forest fragmentation -- Adaptation -- Patterns of spring -- Flower structure and pollination -- Amphibians in spring -- Birds in spring -- Mammals -- dispersal and road kills -- Nature in summer -- Trees : geometry, leaf size, and leaf angle -- Habitat and growth form in plants -- Patterns of fruiting and seed dispersal -- Milkweek ecology -- Patterns of insect or spider camouflage and mimicry -- Distraction patterns of butterflies and moths -- Leaf rollers, folders, tiers, and miners -- Patterns of nesting birds -- Autumn and winter -- Soil natural history -- The decomposers -- Plants in fall -- Birds : mixed foraging flocks -- Mammals : vole cycles.
Summary:
Provides an introduction to patterns of forest ecology, looks at each of the major forest types of eastern North America, examines changes that occur as abandoned fields turn into forests, features background on the process of adaptation and natural selection, and describes forest changes in each of the four seasons.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.