Southeastern Naturalist
Noteworthy Books
2017 Vol. 16, No. 3
B2
Plant Ecology: Origins, Processes, Consequences.
Paul A. Keddy. 2017. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, MA. 604 pp. $65,
hardcover. ISBN 9781107114234. Plants are the
dominant life form on earth, capturing sunlight
and creating a living template for all other species
and terrestrial ecosystems. This latest edition of
Plant Ecology provides a conceptual framework
for plant ecology, integrating classical themes
with the latest ideas, models, experiments, and
data. The author guides readers through essential
concepts using numerous real-world examples
and full-colour illustrations. The first chapter
puts plant ecology in the largest context: the origin
of plants and their impact on the Earth. The
second chapter explores current global patterns,
emphasizing the need for 2 simultaneous perspectives:
the functional and the phylogenetic.
The subsequent chapters address causal factors
in plant communities: resources, competition,
disturbance, herbivory, mutualism, and time.
These are followed by chapters on population
ecology, stress, and environmental gradients.
The two concluding chapters address plant diversity
and conservation priorities, respectively. The
book has a global scope; examples include the
Appalachian Mountains, South African deserts,
the Guyana Highlands of South America, the
Amazon River, the Himalayas, Tasmania, Easter
Island, and arctic alpine environments. Twentyone
enrichment boxes cover ancillary stories
such as Humboldt’s travels in South America,
the history of the Haber process, the discovery of
the alternation of generations by Hofmeister, carnivorous
plants, diversity indices, and the threats
posed to plants by the bush meat industry and by
goat grazing.
Right Whales: From Hunted Leviathan to
Conservation Icon. David W. Laist. 2017. Johns
Hopkins University Press Baltimore, MD. 464
PP. $44.95, hardcover. For centuries these giant
whales were considered the “right whale to hunt”
due to their superior oil and baleen. Peoples on
both sides of the Atlantic developed increasingly
more sophisticated methods of hunting and
capturing these whales until until their numbers
dwindled to merely 100 worldwide. This dire
situation was the impetus for a ban on hunting
and a treaty that formed the International Whaling
Commission. Despite herculean efforts to
increase their numbers, ship strikes and entanglement
in commercial fishing gear have hampered
their resurgence. Today only about 500 live along
the Atlantic coast – a far cry from the thousands
that used to grace these waters. With incredible
photographs and art work, this single volume
offers a comprehensive understanding of North
Atlantic Right Whales, the role they played in the
many cultures that hunted them, and our modern
attempts to help them recover.
Beaked Whales: A Complete Guide to Their
Biology and Conservation. Richard Ellis and
James G. Mead. 2017. Johns Hopkins University
Press, Baltimore, MD. 208 pp. $79.95, hardcover.
ISBN 9781421421827. Shrouded in mystery
for most of the twentieth century beaked whales'
natural habitat and resistance to life in captivity
have made them notoriously difficult to observe.
In recent decades, scientists have gained a better
understanding of these creatures. They spend
their extensive lifetimes diving to extreme depths
in search of prey, which they capture by expanding
their oral cavity suddenly to suck in squid or
fish. It appears these sleek predators may engage
in fierce, clandestine aquatic battles, as many
males are covered in scars. Some species are
only slightly larger than dolphins and thus often
confused with porpoises; however, others may
grow to 40 feet. These enigmatic and compelling
creatures are declining in number perhaps due
to the damaging effects of naval sonar on their
sophisticated auditory systems. Ellis and Mead’s
book provides captivating stories about the species,
original Richard Ellis art, and photos from
leading natural history photographers. The result
is an accessible, beautiful book—the first of its
kind on this unusual group of cetaceans.
Wild By Nature: North American Animals
Confront Colonization. Andrea L. Smalley.
2017. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore,
MD. 352 pp. $49.95, hardcover. ISBN
9781421422350. From the time Europeans
first came to the New World until the closing
of the frontier, the benefits of abundant wild
animals—from Beavers and Wolves to fish, deer,
and Bison—appeared as a recurring theme in
colonizing discourses. Following a trail of human–
animal encounters from the 17th-century
Chesapeake to the Civil War-era southern plains,
Smalley shows how wild beasts and their human
pursuers repeatedly transgressed the lines lawmakers
drew to demarcate colonial sovereignty
and control, confounding attempts to enclose
Noteworthy Books
Received by the Southeastern Naturalist, Issue 16/3, 2017
Southeastern Naturalist
B3
Noteworthy Books
2017 Vol. 16, No. 3
both people and animals inside a legal frame. She
also explores how, to possess the land, colonizers
had to find new ways to contain animals without
destroying the wildness that made those creatures
valuable to English settler societies in the
first place. Offering fresh perspectives on colonial,
legal, environmental, and Native American
history, Wild by Nature reenvisions the familiar
stories of early America as animal tales.
Amphibians of Costa Rica: A Field Guide.
Twan Leenders. January 2017. Cornell University
Press Ithaca, NY. 544 pp. $35.00, softcover.
ISBN 9781501700620. This is the first in-depth
field guide to all 206 species of amphibians
known to occur in Costa Rica or within walking
distance of its borders. Tiny Costa Rica is
host to 146 species of frogs and toads. Frogs of
gem-like beauty and dizzying variety abound.
In the rainforests, you can find frogs capable of
gliding from high in the treetops to the forest
floor, some that carry their eggs or their tadpoles
around on their back, and others that secrete
glue-like substances from their skin that are
capable of sticking shut the mouth of attacking
snakes. Costa Rica is also home to 53 species
of lung-less salamanders and caecilians—bizarre
creatures that somewhat resemble giant
worms. Author, photographer, and conservation
biologist Twan Leenders has put together the
richest collection of photographs of Costa Rican
herpetofauna known to exist and offers a wealth
of natural history information, describing prey
and predators, breeding strategies, habitat, and
conservation status.
American Alligator: Ancient Predator in the
Modern World. Kelby Ochley: 2013. University
of Florida Press, Gainesville, Fl. 160 pp. $19.95,
hardcover. ISBN 9780813049137. In the 1960s,
the American Alligator population teetered on
the brink of extinction. Their recovery in the
1970s and 1980s was largely due to legislative
intervention. American Alligator is the most
up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of this
resilient relic, a creature with a brain weighing
less than half an ounce that has successfully
adapted to a changing Earth for more than 200
million years. Today only 23 species of crocodilians
remain. That the Alligator lineage survives
at all, having successfully weathered millions
of years of environmental change, speaks to an
impressive degree of fitness and adaptability.
The loss of the American Alligator would be a
blow to biodiversity and an ecosystem disruption
affecting all levels of the food chain. Ouchley
cautions us not to forget the lessons learned:
human activities, from urban development to
energy production, can still threaten the future of
the American Alligator and its southern wetland
habitat.
Indian River Lagoon: An Environmental
History. Nathaniel Osborn. 2016. University of
Florida Press, Gainesville, Fl. 210 pp. $26.95,
hardcover. ISBN 9780813061610. Stretching
along 156 miles of Florida’s East Coast,the
Indian River Lagoon is a delicate ecosystem of
shifting barrier islands and varying salinity levels
due to its many inlets that open and close onto
the ocean. The long, ribbon-like lagoon spans
both temperate and subtropical climates resulting
in the most biologically diverse estuarine
system in the United States. Nineteen canals and
5 man-made inlets have dramatically reshaped
the region in the past 2 centuries, intensifying its
natural instability and challenging its diversity.
Indian River Lagoon traces the winding story
of the waterway, showing how humans have
altered the area to fit their needs and also how
the lagoon has influenced the cultures along its
shores. Now stuck in transition between a locus
of labor and a destination for recreation, the lagoon
has become a chief focus of public concern.
This book provides a much-needed bigger picture
as debates continue over how best to restore this
natural resource.
Snakes of the Eastern United States. Whit
Gibbons. 2017. University of Georgia Press,
Athens, GA. 392 pp. $32.95, softcover. ISBN
9780820349701. More than 60 species of snakes
are found in the eastern United States, the region
of highest biodiversity of all reptiles and amphibians
in North America. In this new guide,
stunning photographs, colorful geographic range
maps, and comprehensive written accounts provide
essential information about each species—
including detailed identification characteristics,
general ecology and behavior, and conservation
status. Carefully researched and written by an
expert herpetologist, the guide is directed toward
a general audience interested in natural
history. An additional chapter focuses on urban
and suburban snake ecology A chapter on snake
conservation includes information on threats
faced by native species in many regions of the
eastern United States. Another chapter provides
Southeastern Naturalist
Noteworthy Books
2017 Vol. 16, No. 3
B4
The Southeastern Naturalist welcomes submissions of review copies of books that publishers or authors
would like to recommend to the journal’s readership and are relevant to the journal’s mission of publishing
information about the natural history of the southeastern US. Accompanying short, descriptive summaries
of the text are also welcome.
the latest updates on the status of invasive species
of pythons and boa constrictors that have
now become naturalized permanent residents in
certain areas of the country. This is the most accessible
and informative guide to snakes of the
eastern United States available anywhere.
Alabama Wildlife: Volume 5. Ericha Shelton-
Nix (Ed.). 2017. The University of Alabama
Press, Tuscaloosa, AL. 376 pp. $44.95, hardcover.
ISBN 9780817319618. Alabama Wildlife:
Volume 5 offers a comprehensive update and
provides a wealth of new information concerning
changes and developments relative to the
conservation status of wild animal populations of
the state that have occurred in the decade since
publication of the previous 4 volumes in 2004.
Enhancements include the addition of any new
or rediscovered taxon, species priority status
changes, and taxonomic changes, plus the addition
of the crayfishes, which were left out previously
because so little was known about these
understudied taxa.
Guide to the Geology and Natural History of
the Blue Ridge Mountains. Edgar W. Spencer.
2017. King Printing, Lowell, MA. 396 pp.
$29.95, softcover. ISBN 9780983747161. As
you travel along the Blue Ridge Parkway, hike
the Appalachian Trail, or visit the national and
state parks scattered throughout the Blue Ridge
Mountains, you will encounter an incredible variety
of natural landscapes, micro climates, and
fascinating rock formations. Over millions of
years, the ecosystems thriving here have evolved
into some of the world’s most diverse collections
of flora and fauna. Full of rich detail and easy to
use, this beautifully illustrated full-color guide
to the region was written and designed for great
accessibility, whether you’re a first-time visitor
looking to understand the Parkway’s spectacular
views or an experienced geology or nature enthusiast.
For those seeking a greater understanding
of the inner workings of the geology and natural
history of the Blue Ridge, this is an indispensable
companion.