The Deserts Of The Southwest: A Sierra Club Naturalist's Guide (Sierra Club Naturalist's Guides) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Newly revised and updated, this comprehensive field guide describes the four deserts of the American Southwest—the Great Basin, Mojave, Chihuahuan, and Sonoran—which together stretch into nine southwestern states and Mexico. The topography, geology, and climatic conditions of these arid lands set the stage for one of the most fascinating of ecological studies: the survival and adaptation of animal and plant life in the severe, often extreme desert climate and terrain.Abundantly illustrated with line drawings, maps, charts, and diagrams, The Deserts of the Southwest offers both the outdoor adventurer and the armchair naturalist a clear and detailed portrait of this complex, beautiful, fragile wilderness.
Series: Sierra Club Naturalist's Guides
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Sierra Club Books; 2nd edition (June 27, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1578050529
ISBN-13: 978-1578050529
Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 0.6 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,519,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #81 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Ecosystems > Deserts #488 in Books > Travel > Specialty Travel > Travel with Pets #639 in Books > Travel > United States > South > West South Central
We camped for a week in the Davis Mountains in west Texas in a section of the Chihuahuan desert last summer. This was not our first desert experience - we have hiked and camped across much of the Southwest over the last twenty years or so. This was an unplanned trip as we were headed toward southern Colorado, but we became fascinated by the Chihuahuan desert and somehow we never drove any further.We were similarly quite lucky to find a copy of the first edition of Peggy Larson's Sierra Guidebook in a bookstore in Alpine, Texas. She presents the deserts of the American southwest (and northern Mexico) in a literate and educated fashion. She manages to discuss individual plants and animals in some detail while painting a large scale, beautiful portrait of the four major deserts of North America. Detailed ink drawings - landscape, geology, plants, and animals - are scattered throughout the narrative and add considerable value. She knows her subject and shares her knowledge in an intriguing fashion. She effectively uses scientific names of desert plants and animals interchangeably with common (but less unique) names without intimidating the reader. This is not a novel and it is quite possible to skip to selected chapters of personal interest, but I highly recommend exploring all chapters, all topics. Peggy Larson's style is really quite good.If you are already familiar with the American deserts, you will find "The Deserts of the Southwest" a rewarding visit with an old friend. If you are somewhat new to the deserts and possibly have only sampled the deserts from a highway perspective, I suspect that after reading Peggy Larson's book you will likely change your travel plans to include a personal visit to an American desert.
The book looked great, butr was actually somehow missing several pages about 2/3 of the way through!
good book, great info, but only 4 stars as someone thought they were saving money by putting in drawings instead of real pictures of objects.
This book arrived quickly. It was what I had expected. It will be a handy reference book. Thank you for the prompt response.
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