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Tue Mar 4 16:45:48 EST 2008
Dangerfields of
the
animal world: They just don't get no respect. So claim entomologist
Buchmann
(Hayden
Bee Research Center) and Nabhan (Director of science/Arizona-Sonora
Desert
Museum)
in this at once delightful and disturbing tour d'horizon of those for
whom the
flowers bloom. ``One in every three mouthfuls of food we eat, and of
beverages
we
drink'' is served up to us by pollinators, notes E.O. Wilson in his
introduction.
Butterflies are out there working for us, as are the hummingbirds and
fig wasps,
pygmy gliders and panurgine bees, carrying pollen to stigma, allowing
seeds to
set.
Pollination is one of nature's vital processes, fine-tuned and
mesmeric in its
endless cycles, feedback loops, checks and balances. But as in so many
other
instances, humans are busy as the bees disrupting the process, bombing
pollinators
with pesticides, fragmenting their habitat, cutting off the nectar
corridors,
such
that the ``current rate of species loss constitutes a biodiversity
crisis of
unprecedented proportions.'' Buchmann provides the hard science of the
pollinators'
world: flower stalk architecture and nectar chemistry and flowering
sequences;
Nabhan contributes a felicitous dose of pleasing prose, framed as
anecdotal
remembrances: He's never happier than when poking about in a sere
landscape,
following the monarch butterflies on their winter migration, taking
stock of the
floral pantries. While this book can only be considered a preliminary
investigation,
trends indicate that pollinators may be getting ever more limited in
supply as
their
world shrinks around them. Buchmann and Nabhan make the case for
increased
wildlands, intact forests, an ecological approach that prevents
pollinator
habitat
from becoming islands, thus coffins, in a developed landscape. A
cautionary
tale:
Kill the pollinators and you might as well kill yourself. Another of
nature's
elegant loops. (b&w illustrations) (Author tour) -- Copyright 1996,
Kirkus
Associates,
Synopsis : ". . . a pleasing concoction of natural and cultural
history
illustrating
how pollination works and how easily it can be disrupted. . . . More
than the
species and the land that holds them, the book suggests, the living
world to be
cherished includes everything that these creatures, plants, and places
do--the
much
more vital and intangible biodiversity of interactions and
relationships."--The
New
York Times Book Review.
Synopsis : Without interaction between animals and flowering plants,
the seeds
and
fruits that make up nearly 80% of the human diet would not exist.
Here, the
authors
explore the vital but little-appreciated relationship between plants
and the
animals
they depend on for reproduction--bees, beetles, butterflies,
hummingbirds, and
countless other animals. --This text refers to the hardcover edition
of this
title
In The Forgotten Pollinators, Stephen L. Buchmann, one of the world's
leading
authorities on bees and pollination, and Gary Paul Nabhan,
award-winning writer
and
renowned crop ecologist, explore the vital but little-appreciated
relationship
between plants and the animals they depend on for reproduction - bees,
beetles,
butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bats, and countless other animals,
some widely
recognized and others almost unknown. Scenes from around the globe -
examining
island flora and fauna on the Galapagos, counting bees in the
Panamanian rain
forest, witnessing an ancient honey-hunting ritual in Malaysia - bring
to life
the
hidden relationships between plants animals and demonstrates the ways
in which
human
society affects and is affected by those relationships. Buchmann and
Nabhan
combine
vignettes from the field with expository discussions of ecology,
botany, and
crop
science to present a lively and fascinating account of the ecological
and
cultural
context of plant-pollinator relationships. More than any other natural
process,
plant-pollinator relationships offer vivid examples of the connections
between
endangered species and threatened habitats. The authors explain how
human-induced
changes in pollinator populations - caused by overuse of chemical
pesticides,
unbridled development, and conversion of natural areas into
monocultural
cropland -
can have a ripple effect on disparate species, ultimately leading to a
"cascade
of
linked extinctions." --This text refers to the hardcover edition of
this title
Booknews, Inc. , December 1, 1996 : By invoking Rachel Carson in the
volume's
first
chapter, entitled, "Silent Springs and Fruitless Falls," Buchmann and
Nabhan let
readers know right away that they are pleading another endangered
species case.
The
wonder of their writing is that they make bees, beetles, butterflies,
moths,
bats
and other pollinators come vividly alive even as they emphasize that
the
destruction
of their habitat will destroy them too. Readers are treated to some
rare
anecdotal
descriptions from around the globe and careful scientific research
into the
delicate
balance between fauna, flora, and the birds and bees. Annotation c. by
Book
News,
Inc., Portland, Or. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of
this title
The publisher, Island Press/Shearwater Books , July 15, 1996 :Alert to
story in
current issue of Time Magazine The July 15th issue of Time Magazine,
on
newstands
now, carries a terrific story on pollinators and the role they play in
the
production of most of our food on page 60. Additional reviews are
forthcoming in
the
book review sections of many major metropolitan papers. --This text
refers to
the
hardcover edition of this title
Customer Comments : A reader, December 23, 1996 The world is complex
and
wonderful, especially reproduction. Ever wonder where most plants
come from?
They
come from seeds. Ever wonder where seeds come from? They come from
sex. Ever
wonder
what plant sex is about (or why this is an issue)? It comes from
beetles, bees,
butterflies, moths, birds, bats and winged pseudogenitalia in general,
whether
great
or small. Pollination is the key to life on the terrestrial earth.
Pollination
of
plants is also the key to life in much of the aquatic part of our
planet, which
is
about the only omission for which the authors might be faulted. It is
a
mind-expanding exercise, to be sure, to ask ourselves what would
happen if
pollinator "X" suddenly disappeared from the scene. Buchmann and
Nabhan have
taken
great care both to inform us that all would not be lost, because
pollinator "Y"
or
"Z" is frequently waiting in the wings. But in many, many cases,
pollinator "X"
has
never been studied and cannot even be named, let alone conserved.
--This text
refers
to the hardcover edition of this title
***************************************************
Stalking the Wild Amaranth: Gardening in the Age of Extinction
by Janet Marinelli
Our Price: $17.50
You Save: $7.50 (30%)
Usually ships in 2-3 days
Hardcover - (April 1998) 256
pages
Reviews
Amazon.com
It comes as no surprise to anyone
that human society has had a
pernicious effect on native plant
life. What is surprising is that plants
fall prey not only to the mechanical
effects of suburban expansion, but
also to such seemingly harmless
processes as the introduction of
nonnative rivals to their
eco-regions. Oddly, in the caseof
the seabeach amaranth, it was the
well-meaning efforts of various New
Jersey and Long Island waterfront
communities to curtail beach erosion that fragmented this
normally hardy plant's habitat, leaving it unable to
propagate.
It
is now, for all practical purposes, extinct. Throughout
North
America, approximately one-third of native plant species are
considered endangered.
Janet Marinelli's compelling history of the American
landscape
examines everything from the popular obsession with lawns to
the sex life of plants. For example, much of the decline in
plant
diversity can be traced to the rise of asexual clones--one
ubiquitous example is the Delicious apple--exacerbated by
the
American fondness for the neatly clipped garden, which
discourages open pollination of the few remaining native
plants.
But Marinelli goes much deeper than mere statements of fact,
using garden design as a metaphor that reveals changing
social
philosophies, from rationalist to romantic and back again,
and
sweeping Darwin, Einstein, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Gaia
hypothesis into the mix. The latter half of the book
concentrates
on the past few decades of gardening and what changes in
techniques and style have brought to the larger ecological
communities. Never have the possible implications of the
simple act of planting been made quite so entertaining.
The New York Times Book Review, Michael Pollan
... Marinelli is so reasonable, and such a breezy writer,
that
the
reader is happy to follow her deep into the thickets of
horticultural politics.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
...richly researched, intelligent and clearly written...
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