California Forests and Woodlands - (California Natural History Guides) by Verna R Johnston (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From majestic Redwoods to ancient Western Bristlecone Pines, California's trees have long inspired artists, poets, naturalists--and real estate developers. Verna Johnston's splendid book, illustrated with her superb color photographs and Carla Simmons's detailed black-and-white drawings, now offers an unparalleled view of the Golden State's world-renowned forests and woodlands.

In clear, vivid prose, Johnston introduces each of the state's dominant forest types. She describes the unique characteristics of the trees and the interrelationships of the plants and animals living among them, and she analyzes how fire, flood, fungi, weather, soil, and humans have affected the forest ecology. The world of forest and woodland animals comes alive in these pages--the mating games, predation patterns, communal life, and the microscopic environment of invertebrates and fungi are all here.

Johnston also presents a sobering view of the environmental hazards that threaten the state's trees: acid snow, ozone, blister rust, over-logging. Noting the interconnectedness of the diverse life forms within tree regions, she suggests possible answers to the problems currently plaguing these areas. Enriched by the observations of early naturalists and Johnston's many years of fieldwork, this is a book that will be welcomed by all who care about California's treasured forests and woodlands.

From the Back Cover

'The Book's solid scientific basis and lively writing style will appeal to many audiences...A very nice addition to the library of anyone interested in California's...beloved and important...forests and woodlands.' -Barrett A. Garrison, California Fish and Game

Review Quotes

"Verna Johnson's delightful book is a concise, colorful, reader-friendly overview of the major forest and woodland ecosystems of California. Her thirteen chapters cover the entire state from the humid, complex, species-rich Klamath Mountains to the semi-arid pinyon-juniper woodlands at the upper edge of interior deserts and to the stark genetic homogeneity of Torrey pine groves on maritime southern California bluffs."-- "Journal of Biogeography"

About the Author

Verna R. Johnston's work has appeared in Audubon, The Christian Science Monitor, and The New York Times, as well as in two earlier books. She taught biology at San Joaquin Delta College for thirty-seven years and now lives in the midmountain forests of the Sierra Nevada. Carla J. Simmons is a freelance artist in the San Francisco Bay Area.