Ecosystem Science

Woodland, moorland, sea ... Great Britain is home to vast array of beautiful natural settings, each with its own unique sounds. The award-winning audiobook for The Lost Words and its sister, The Lost Spells, showcased the immersive power of a natural soundscape. Compiled by renowned wildlife recordist Chris Watson, these soundscapes acted as the backdrop and setting for beautiful spells, whilst possessing an energy and life of their own.

In this “deeply personal and lyrical book” (Publishers Weekly) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Horse, Wendy Williams explores the lives of one of the world’s most resilient creatures—the butterfly—shedding light on the role that they play in our ecosystem and in our...

Discover the fascinating world of ecology and ecosystems with this comprehensive guide, perfect for beginners! Ecology for Beginners unravels the complexities of nature, exploring how living organisms interact with each other and their surroundings. Whether you’re a student, nature enthusiast, or just curious about the environment, this book offers a clear and engaging introduction to the science of ecology.

FINALIST FOR THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER AND BOOKLIST The story of the urgent fight to save coral reefs, and why it matters to us all Coral reefs are a microcosm of our planet: extraordinarily diverse, deeply interconnected, and full of wonders. When...

Observer l’histoire de l’humanité à partir des forêts, c’est la perspective enthousiasmante que propose le journaliste, conférencier et essayiste Laurent Testot, qui s’inscrit dans le courant assez récent et novateur de l’histoire environnementale. L’auteur retrace l’histoire de l’humanité depuis la constitution des premiers empires de l’antiquité romaine, chinoise et indienne, en passant par les sociétés médiévales et modernes et étudie le rapport que ces sociétés passées ont entretenu avec leur environnement et en particulier leurs forêts.

In this young readers edition of the New York Times bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass...

Master naturalist Nancy Lawson takes listeners on a fascinating tour of the vibrant web of nature outside our back door—where animals and plants perceive and communicate using marvelous sensory abilities we are only beginning to understand. Organized into chapters investigating each of their five senses, Lawson's exploration reveals a remarkable world of interdependent creatures with amazing capabilities.

Animals have shaped our minds, our lives, our land, and our civilization. Humanity would not have gotten very far without them. And over the last two centuries, humans have made unprecedented advances in science, technology, behavior, and beliefs. Yet how is it that we continue to destroy the animal world and lump its magnificence under the sterile concept of biodiversity? In Beastly, author Keggie Carew seeks to re-enchant listeners with the wild world, reframing our understanding of what it is like to be an animal and what our role is as humans.

Start a peaceful revolution by planting an edible ecosystem and sharing the experience with your neighbors. Humans have always thrived in rich, diverse, edible ecosystems. Yet most cities and suburbs are blanketed by lawns, ornamentals, and a lack of biodiversity, let alone anything edible. It is within these sterile landscapes that seeds of an edible ecosystem lie. The Edible Ecosystem Solution is a comprehensive, practical guidebook that looks at underutilized spaces to reveal the many opportunities for landscape transformation.

Beavers, those icons of industriousness, have been gnawing down trees, building dams, shaping the land, and creating critical habitat in North America for at least a million years. Once one of the continent's most ubiquitous mammals, they ranged from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Rio Grande to the edge of the northern tundra. Wherever there was wood and water, there were beavers - 60 million (or more) - and wherever there were beavers, there were intricate natural communities that depended on their activities.

In Monarchs and Milkweed, Anurag Agrawal presents a vivid investigation into how the monarch butterfly has evolved closely alongside the milkweed - a toxic plant named for the sticky white substance emitted when its leaves are damaged - and how this inextricable and intimate relationship has been like an arms race over the millennia, a battle of exploitation and defense between two fascinating species.

A paradigm shift is roiling the environmental world. For decades people have unquestioningly accepted the idea that our goal is to preserve nature in its pristine, pre-human state. But many scientists have come to see this as an outdated dream that thwarts bold new plans to save the environment and prevents us from having a fuller relationship with nature. Humans have changed the landscapes they inhabit since prehistory, and climate change means even the remotest places now bear the fingerprints of humanity.

Bees are small, yet their impact on the world is enormous. They may weigh less than a paperclip and live only a matter of weeks, but they hold the power to shape ecosystems, economies, and even the food on our plates. Without them, fields would fall silent, harvests would collapse, and the dazzling diversity of life we so often take for granted would fade into memory. This book is a journey into the remarkable world of bees, exploring their hidden importance and why our future is so closely tied to theirs.

It is difficult to conceive of the vast scale of the history of life on Earth, from the very first living organisms sparking into life in hydrothermal deep-sea vents to the dizzying diversity of life today. The evolution of life is a sweeping epic of a tale, with twists and turns, surprising heroes and unlikely survivors. The Earth beautifully distils this complex story into a meaningful scale. In taking a closer look at 47 carefully selected organisms over 15 periods in our planetary history, this audiobook tells the whole story of life on Earth.

Unlock the secrets of life with The Symphony of Life: The Ultimate Guide to Biology—the ultimate reference for anyone seeking to truly understand the living world. This comprehensive volume takes you on an extraordinary journey through the science of life, from the molecular foundations of DNA and cellular processes to the vast complexities of ecosystems and evolution. Whether you're a student, educator, lifelong learner, or simply a curious mind, this book provides a clear, engaging, and thorough exploration of biology in all its forms.

Trees are both amazing and vital. Their intricate, complex processes benefit humanity in so many ways, especially in cities, where populations are on the rise. Why Trees? is a non-fiction book about how to keep our urban trees healthy. It is an engaging, pleasurable audiobook, packed with information about these endangered climate champions.

Discover the key theories and milestone developments in the field of geography – the study of Earth’s diverse landscapes and climates, and the ways in which we have interacted with them through history and across the world. Applying the series’ accessible approach to the subject, The...

For forty years, Bernd Heinrich has been ensconced in the woods of the northern, or boreal, forest, a vast sea of spruce, fir, and larch in the mountains of western Maine. All life confronts vast and occasionally rapid environmental changes, as one day, and one season, is to the next a completely different environment.

Do you think raising chickens is only for farmers with acres of land? In reality: You can enjoy fresh eggs and feathery companions right in your backyard, no matter the size!

An experienced geologist with years of study in sedimentology, Chris Severson shares his passion for the Delta at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Introduced to the Delta as a young adult, the author ventures into this wild and fascinating region for many, many years. The stories herein tell of adventure, mishaps and perils while giving a view into the beauty of the delta and a geologic picture of the building and destructive forces at work to have created this ever changing, amazing landscape.