Books in Natural History series

Fly-fishing has its sacred waters the world over. Yellowstone National Park claims some of the craft's most storied destinations. Casting in the Firehole River is like going back in time to when bison roamed nearly every meadow in the West. Restored to their natal streams after near extinction, native Arctic grayling can once again be plucked from icy water at the foot of breathtaking waterfalls. Meanwhile, a daylong hike into true wild country rewards an angler with a chance to catch trophy native cutthroat trout on a lonely mountain lake. Local journalist and experienced angler Chris Hunt crafts both a guide and homage to Yellowstone's iconic and wild trout.

The deserts of the American Southwest boast a remarkably diversity of drought-tolerant plant life, including many species found nowhere else on earth. And no group says desert quite like cacti. Their prickly nature notwithstanding, cacti and the desert habitats in which they reside are especially fragile. Indeed, Saguaro National Park and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument were established primarily to protect the largest concentrations of these respective species. Others, such as the Pima pineapple cactus, are less conspicuous but also more rare and in need of special protection and conservation.

Fur seals and sea lions are large, charismatic carnivores that play and engage the public with both their skill and their dog-like appearance. Fur seals and sea lions are top level predators in southern Australian marine ecosystems and were harvested to near extinction 200 years ago. Fur seals are now recovering and are a common feature of islands and near-shore waters across southern Australia, and may reach pre-harvest levels in the next few decades. Sea lions, however, are still endangered and their numbers appear not to be recovering like fur seals and have declined at some locations. All species interact with fisheries, often to the detriment of both fishery and seal. This book outlines the comparative evolutionary ecology, biology, life-history, behavior, conservation status, threats, history of human interactions and latest research on the three species of otariids that live in the waters of southern Australia: the Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal and Australian sea lion. It also includes brief descriptions of Antarctic and Subantarctic seals that occupy the Antarctic pack-ice and remote Australian territories of Macquarie Island and Heard Island.

In New Mexico and across America, communities of color bear the brunt of contamination from generations of expansion, mining, nuclear testing and illegal dumping. The nation's largest uranium waste spill occurred in 1979 at Church Rock, and radioactivity in the Rio Puerco remains at dangerous levels. The National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Mount Taylor as one of the ten most endangered historic sites in America. After decades of sickness from Rio Grande river water, the first female governor of a Pueblo Nation, Verna Olgin Teller, led tribal members to a Supreme Court victory over Albuquerque. Valerie Rangel presents stories of strife and struggle in the war to protect the integrity of natural systems, rights to religious freedom and the continuation of traditional customs.

* Provides a comprehensive overview of Australia’s most controversial and iconic predator * Discusses the role of the dingo in contemporary Australian culture and shows the conflict between reality and perception Many present-day Australians see the dingo as a threat and a pest. An alternative viewpoint, which is more in tune with Indigenous culture, allows others to see the dingo as a means to improve human civilization. The dingo has thus become trapped between the status of pest animal and totemic creature. This book helps readers to recognize this dichotomy, as a deeper understanding of dingo behavior is now possible through new technologies which have made it easier to monitor their daily lives. Recent research on genetic structure has indicated that dingo purity may be a human construct and the genetic relatedness of wild dingo packs has been analyzed for the first time. GPS telemetry and passive camera traps are new technologies that provide unique ways to monitor movements of dingoes, and analyses of their diet indicate that dietary shifts occur during the different biological seasons of dingoes, showing that they have a functional role in Australian landscapes. Dingo brings together more than 50 years of observations to provide a comprehensive portrayal of the life of a dingo. Throughout this book dingoes are compared with other hypercarnivores, such as wolves and African wild dogs, highlighting the similarities between dingoes and other large canid species around the world.

A newspaper-style activity book for the discerning dinosaur, packed with paleo puzzles, fearsome facts and giganto games. Meet real-life reptiles and read fascinating features, which include:Seeking a self-defence class? Hear what a cetiosaur has to say about staying safe.Wondering what’s happening with the weather? See whether meteor showers are here to stay with our fail-safe forecast.Confused why #trees are trending? Learn why the hypsilophodons think branches are best. And much, much more…