A Natural History of the Future

A Natural History of the Future PDF

Author: Rob Dunn

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2022-01-20

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 1399800159

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Over the past century, our species has made unprecedented technological innovations with which we have sought to control nature. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life's overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul. When we create artificial islands of crops, dump toxic waste, or build communities, we provide new materials for old laws to shape. Life's future flourishing is not in question. Ours is. A Natural History of the Future sets a new standard for understanding the diversity and destiny of life itself.

The Bee

The Bee PDF

Author: Noah Wilson-Rich

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2018-07-24

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0691182477

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An incomparable illustrated look at the critical role bees play in the life of our planet Bees pollinate more than 130 fruit, vegetable, and seed crops that we rely on to survive. Bees are also crucial to the reproduction and diversity of flowering plants, and the economic contributions of these irreplaceable insects measure in the tens of billions of dollars each year. Yet bees are dying at an alarming rate, threatening food supplies and ecosystems around the world. In this richly illustrated natural history of the bee, which includes more than 250 color photographs and illustrations, Noah Wilson-Rich and his team of bee experts provide a window into the vitally important role that bees play in the life of our planet. Earth is home to more than 20,000 bee species, from fluorescent-colored orchid bees and sweat bees to flower-nesting squash bees and leaf-cutter bees. This book provides an unmatched account of this astounding diversity, blending an engaging narrative with practical, hands-on discussions of such topics as beekeeping and bee health. It explores our relationship with the bee over evolutionary time, examining how it originated and where it stands today—and what the future holds for humanity and bees alike. Provides an accessible, richly illustrated look at the human–bee relationship over time Features a section on beekeeping and handy guides to identifying, treating, and preventing honey bee diseases Covers bee evolution, ecology, genetics, and physiology Includes a directory of notable bee s Presents a holistic approach to bee health, including organic and integrated pest management techniques Shows how you can help bee populations

Durham County

Durham County PDF

Author: Jean Bradley Anderson

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2011-05-09

Total Pages: 664

ISBN-13: 0822349833

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This sweeping history of Durham County, North Carolina, extends from the seventeenth century to the end of the twentieth.

A Delicious Country

A Delicious Country PDF

Author: Scott Huler

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2019-02-05

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1469648296

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In 1700, a young man named John Lawson left London and landed in Charleston, South Carolina, hoping to make a name for himself. For reasons unknown, he soon undertook a two-month journey through the still-mysterious Carolina backcountry. His travels yielded A New Voyage to Carolina in 1709, one of the most significant early American travel narratives, rich with observations about the region's environment and Indigenous people. Lawson later helped found North Carolina's first two cities, Bath and New Bern; became the colonial surveyor general; contributed specimens to what is now the British Museum; and was killed as the first casualty of the Tuscarora War. Yet despite his great contributions and remarkable history, Lawson is little remembered, even in the Carolinas he documented. In 2014, Scott Huler made a surprising decision: to leave home and family for his own journey by foot and canoe, faithfully retracing Lawson's route through the Carolinas. This is the chronicle of that unlikely voyage, revealing what it's like to rediscover your own home. Combining a traveler's curiosity, a naturalist's keen observation, and a writer's wit, Huler draws our attention to people and places we might pass regularly but never really see. What he finds are surprising parallels between Lawson's time and our own, with the locals and their world poised along a knife-edge of change between a past they can't forget and a future they can't quite envision.

The Nature of the Outer Banks

The Nature of the Outer Banks PDF

Author: Dirk Frankenberg

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press

Published: 2012-03-12

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0807872377

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North Carolina's Outer Banks are in constant motion, responding to weather, waves, and the rising sea level. Beaches erode, sometimes taking homes or sections of highway with them into the surf; sand dunes migrate with the wind; and storms open new inlets and dump sand in channels and sounds. A classic guide, The Nature of the Outer Banks describes these dynamic forces and guides visitors to sites where they can see these phenomena in action. In the first section of the book, Dirk Frankenberg highlights three major processes on the Outer Banks: the rising sea level, movement of sand by wind and water, and stabilization of sand by plant life. In the second section, he provides a mile-by-mile field guide to the northern Banks, and in the final section, he alerts readers to the dangers of overdevelopment on the Outer Banks. In a new foreword for this edition, Betsy Bennett documents the ever-more-critical situation of these shifting sands. Southern Gateways Guide is a registered trademark of the University of North Carolina Press

The Nature of North Carolina's Southern Coast

The Nature of North Carolina's Southern Coast PDF

Author: Dirk Frankenberg

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9780807846551

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With The Nature of North Carolina's Southern Coast, Dirk Frankenberg's effort to provide a comprehensive field guide to the state's dynamic shoreline is complete. Picking up where his 1995 book The Nature of the Outer Banks left off, this bo

The Natural Gardens of North Carolina

The Natural Gardens of North Carolina PDF

Author: B. W. Wells

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2015-12-01

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 146962592X

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For seventy years, The Natural Gardens of North Carolina has been a must-read volume for anyone interested in wildflowers, native plants, ecology, or conservation in the state. This handsome revised edition features new line drawings and color photographs, an appendix that updates the botanical nomenclature, an introduction that focuses on B. W. Wells and his passion for the state's landscape, and an afterword that discusses the continuing relevance of Wells's ideas. One of the first scientists to write and lecture about ecology, Wells introduced North Carolinians to the extraordinary tapestry of "natural gardens," or plant communities, within the state's borders back in 1932. His purpose was to help readers understand a plant within its community--a pioneering concept at the time--and to promote conservation. Moving from the Atlantic coast westward, Wells identifies eleven major natural gardens: the sand dune community, salt marsh, freshwater marsh, swamp forest, aquatic vegetation, evergreen shrub bog (or pocosin), grass-sedge bog (or savanna), sandhill, old-field community, upland forest, and high mountain spruce-fir forest. He devotes the first part of his book to a general account of the vegetation and habitats of each community and then identifies and describes the wildflowers found there.

The Battle for North Carolina's Coast

The Battle for North Carolina's Coast PDF

Author: Stanley R. Riggs

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2011-09-05

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0807878073

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The North Carolina barrier islands, a 325-mile-long string of narrow sand islands that forms the coast of North Carolina, are one of the most beloved areas to live and visit in the United States. However, extensive barrier island segments and their associated wetlands are in jeopardy. In The Battle for North Carolina's Coast, four experts on coastal dynamics examine issues that threaten this national treasure. According to the authors, the North Carolina barrier islands are not permanent. Rather, they are highly mobile piles of sand that are impacted by sea-level rise and major storms and hurricanes. Our present development and management policies for these changing islands are in direct conflict with their natural dynamics. Revealing the urgency of the environmental and economic problems facing coastal North Carolina, this essential book offers a hopeful vision for the coast's future if we are willing to adapt to the barriers' ongoing and natural processes. This will require a radical change in our thinking about development and new approaches to the way we visit and use the coast. Ultimately, we cannot afford to lose these unique and valuable islands of opportunity. This book is an urgent call to protect our coastal resources and preserve our coastal economy.