• Short-eared owl
• Jack-in-the-pulpit
• Appalachian pandas
• Cerulean warbler
• Ghost plant
• Ruby-throated hummingbird
• Freshwater jellyfish
• Monarch butterfly
• Lake sturgeon
• Whooping crane
• Coy-wolf-dog?
• Southern pine beetle.

In this captivating collection of twelve essays, a testament to a lifetime's fascination with the outdoors and its myriad wonders, naturalist Stephen Lyn Bales examines a variety of flora and fauna that in one way or another can be described as "ephemeral"-that is, fleeting, short-lived, or transient.Focusing on his native East Tennessee, Bales introduces us to several oddities, including the ghost plant, a wispy vascular plant that resembles a rooster's tail and grows mainly in areas devoid of sunlight; the Appalachian panda, an ancestor of today's red panda that wandered the region millions of years ago and whose fossil remains have only recently been discovered; and the freshwater jellyfish, a tiny organism that is virtually invisible except for those hot summer days when clusters of them bloom into shimmering "medusae, " sometimes by the thousands. Other essays consider such topics as the plight of the monarch butterfly, a gorgeous insect whose populations have dropped by 90 percent in only the last two decades; the reintroduction of the lake sturgeon, one of nature's most primitive and seldom-seen fish, into the waters of the Tennessee Valley; and the surprising emergence of coyote-wolf and coyote-dog hybrids in the eastern states.Written with insight, humor, and heart, Ephemeral by Nature is as entertaining as it is instructive. Along with a wealth of biological details-and his own handsome pen-and-ink drawings-Bales fills the book with delightful anecdotes of field trips, species-protection efforts, and those thrilling occasions when some elusive member of the natural order shows itself to us, if only for a brief moment.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9781621903543 20171201

• The Southeastern Setting-- History, Evolution, and Organization of Vegetation and Human Culture-- The Fauna and Wildlife of the Southeastern United States-- Maritime Communities-- Mangrove Forests-- The Everglades-- Pocosins-- Carolina Bays and Mountain Bogs-- Southern Flood-Plain Forests-- Pine Flatwoods and Xeric Pine Forests of the Southern Coastal Plain-- The Former Longleaf Pine Forest Region-- Oak-Hickory-Pine Forests-- Rock Outcrop Communities-- Grass-Dominated Communities-- Oak-Hickory Forests-- Mixed Mesophytic Forests-- High Elevation Forests-- The Future of the Terrestrial Communities of the Southeastern United States.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)9780471628835 20160527

• Oak-Hickory-Pine Forests-- Rock Outcrop Communities-- Grass-Dominated Communities-- Oak-Hickory Forests-- Mixed Mesophytic Forests-- Appalachian Oak Forests-- High Elevation Forests-- Spruce-Fir Forests-- Northern Hardwoods Forests and Associated Communities-- The Future of the Terrestrial Communities of the Southeastern United States.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)9780471585947 20160527

• Ecological Processes of Southeastern United States-- Aquatic Ecosystems (S. Adams & C. Hackney)-- Geologic and Evolutionary History of Drainage Systems in the Southeastern United States (W. Isphording & J. Fitzpatrick)-- LOTIC SYSTEMS-- Caves and Springs (H. Hobbs)-- High-Gradient Streams of the Appalachians (J. Wallace, et al.)-- Streams of the Southeastern Piedmont, Atlantic Drainage (P. Mulholland & D. Lenat)-- Medium-Low-Gradient Streams of the Gulf Coastal Plain (J. Felley)-- Coastal Plain Blackwater Streams (L. Smock & E. Gilinsky)-- Medium-Sized Rivers of the Atlantic Coastal Plain (G. Garman & L. Nielsen)-- Medium-Sized Rivers of the Gulf Coastal Plain (R. Livingston)-- LENTIC SYSTEMS-- Small Impoundments and Ponds (R. Menzel & C. Cooper)-- Reservoirs (D. Soballe, et al.)-- Natural Lakes of the Southeastern United States: Origin, Structure, and Function (T. Crisman)-- TIDAL SYSTEMS-- Low-Salinity Backbays and Lagoons (R. Moore)-- Estuaries (M. Dardeau, et al.)-- HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE-- Aquatic Communities of the Southeastern United States: Past, Present, and Future (C. Hackney & S. Adams)-- Appendix.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)9780471628842 20160527

Part of a three-volume work which provides a balanced description of the ecology of the southern USA, this particular book studies coastal and flood plain areas. Plant and animal communities are described in detail, ranging from mangrove swamps and the Florida Everglades to lowland pine forests.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780471628835 20160527
Part of a three-volume work which provides a balanced description of the ecology of the southern USA, this particular book concentrates on forested areas. Discussions of more specialized regions and an outlook for the future of American terrestrial communities completes the series.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780471585947 20160527
Describing the diverse ecology of the region, this study systematically describes all major aquatic communities, their geographic setting, the plants and animals found in each, and the interactions among species. Included are maps of each system and tables of primary physical features.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780471628842 20160527

"Forgotten Grasslands of the South" is the study of one of the biologically richest and most endangered ecosystems in North America. In a seamless blend of science and personal observation, renowned ecologist Reed Noss explains the natural history of southern grasslands, their origin and history, and the physical determinants of grassland distribution, including ecology, soils, landform, and hydrology. In addition to offering fascinating new information about these little-studied ecosystems, Noss demonstrates how natural history is central to the practice of conservation. Although theory and experimentation have recently dominated the field of ecology, ecologists are coming to realise how these distinct approaches are not divergent but complementary, and that pursuing them together can bring greater knowledge and understanding of how the natural world works and how we can best conserve it. This long-awaited work sets a new standard for scientific literature and is essential reading for those who study and work to conserve the grasslands of the South as well as for everyone who is fascinated by the natural world.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9781597264891 20160610

Nature writers know that to be fully human is to be engaged with our natural surroundings. Elemental South is a gathering of works by some of the region's best nature writers - people who can coax from words the mysteries of our place in the landscape and the human relationship to wildness. Arranged by theme according to the basic elements by which many cultures on earth interpret themselves and their place in the world - earth, air, fire, water - the writings consider our actual and assumed connections in the greater scheme of functioning ecosystems. As we read of bears, ancient magnolias, swallow-tail kites, the serenity of a country childhood, the pleasure of eating real food, the remarkable provenance of ancient pottery shards, and much more, these works lure us deep into the southern landscape, away from the constructs of humanity and closer to a recognition of our inextricable ties to the earth. The writers are all participants in the Southern Nature Project, an ongoing endeavor founded on the conviction that writing like the kind gathered here can help us to lead more human, profound, and courageous lives in terms of how we use our earth. Some of the featured writers are originally from the South, and others migrated here - but all have honed their voices on the region's distinctive landscapes.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780820326894 20160528

William Bartram was a naturalist, an artist, and the author of "Travels through North and South Carolina", "Georgia", "East and West Florida", "the Cherokee Country", "the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulees, or Creek Confederacy", and the "Country of the Choctaws". The book, based on his journey across the South, reflects a remarkable coming of age. In 1773, Bartram - a British colonist - departed his family home near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; in 1777, he returned as a citizen of an emerging nation, the United States. The account of his journey, published in 1791, established a national benchmark for nature writing and remains a classic of American literature, scientific writing, and history. Brought up as a Quaker, Bartram portrayed nature through a poetic lens of experience as well as scientific observation, and his work provides a window on 18th-century southern landscapes. Particularly enlightening and appealing are Bartram's detailed accounts of Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee peoples. "The Bartram Trail Conference" fosters Bartram scholarship through biennial conferences held along the route of his travels. This richly illustrated volume of essays, a selection from recent conferences, brings together scholarly contributions from history, archaeology, and botany. The authors discuss the political and personal context of his travels; species of interest to Bartram; Creek architecture; foodways in the 18th-century south, particularly those of Indian groups that Bartram encountered; rediscovery of a lost Bartram manuscript; new techniques for charting Bartram's trail and imaging his collections; and Bartram's place in contemporary environmental issues.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780817316822 20160528

• Historical introduction
• Bartram sails to Charleston
• Savannah and the Altamaha River
• Georgia frontier settlements and trading houses
• Augusta and first encounter with Indians
• A storm on the Altamaha
• The Seacoast Islands
• En route to Florida
• Arrival in east Florida
• Down the St. Johns River
• Life on the river
• The Upper Trading House
• An alligator fight
• A hurricane
• A collecting expedition
• The journey to Cuscowilla
• The Seminoles of Cuscowilla
• The Alachua Savanna
• The journey to Talahasochte
• Explorations near Talahasochte
• Seminoles visit the Trading House
• Observations on the rattlesnake
• Return to Charleston.

William Bartram travelled from Philadelphia on a four-year journey ranging from the Carolinas to Florida and Mississippi, observing plants and birds. Francis Harper has transformed Bartram's accounts of the southern states into this guidebook.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780820320274 20160528

• Introduction: No more the backward region : Southern environmental history comes of age / Paul S. Sutter
• Animals into the wilderness : the development of livestock husbandry in the seventeenth-century Chesapeake / Virginia DeJohn Anderson
• Horses and the economy and culture of the Choctaw Indians, 1690-1840 / James Taylor Carson
• Landscapes of technology transfer : rice cultivation and African continuities / Judith Carney
• Clearing swamps, harvesting forests : trees and the making of a plantation landscape in the colonial South Carolina lowcountry / S. Max Edelson
• The common rights of mankind : subsistence, shad, and commerce in the early republican South / Harry Watson
• The wilderness of war : nature and strategy in the American Civil War / Lisa Brady
• If John Muir had been an agrarian : American environmental history west and south / Mart Stewart
• Texas fever and the dispossession of the Southern yeoman farmer / Claire Strom
• Like manna from God : the American chestnut trade in Southwestern Virginia / Ralph H. Lutts
• Burned to be wild : Herbert Stoddard and the roots of ecological conservation in the Southern longleaf pine forest / Albert G. Way
• Making meat : science, technology, and American poultry production / William Boyd
• The fire ant wars : nature and science in the pesticide controversies of the late twentieth century / Joshua Blu Buhs
• From NIMBY to civil rights : the origins of the environmental justice movement / Eileen Maura McGurty
• Do-it-yourself deathscape : the unnatural history of natural disaster in South Florida / Ted Steinberg
• Reintroducing nature to the city : wetlands in New Orleans / Craig E. Colten
• Epilogue: Nature suburbanized, and other Southern spaces / Jack Temple Kirby.

This book presents a new introduction to southern environmental history. This reader gathers fifteen of the most important essays written in the field of southern environmental history over the past decade. Ideal for course use, the volume provides a convenient entree into the recent literature on the region as it indicates the variety of directions in which the field is growing. As coeditor Paul S. Sutter writes in his introduction, 'recent trends in environmental historiography - a renewed emphasis on agricultural landscapes and their hybridity, attention to the social and racial histories of environmental thought and practice, and connections between health and the environment among them - have made the South newly attractive terrain. This volume suggests, then, that southern environmental history has not only arrived but also that it may prove an important space for the growth of the larger environmental history enterprise.' The writings, which range in setting from the Texas plains to the Carolina Lowcountry, address a multiplicity of topics, such as husbandry practices in the Chesapeake colonies and the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. The contributors' varied disciplinary perspectives - including agricultural history, geography, the history of science, the history of technology, military history, colonial American history, urban and regional planning history, and ethnohistory - also point to the field's vitality. Conveying the breadth, diversity, and liveliness of this maturing area of study, "Environmental History and the American South" affirms the critical importance of human-environmental interactions to the history and culture of the region.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780820332802 20160528

• First contact
• Illuminating natural history: Mark Catesby (April 3, 1683-December 23, 1749)
• The Bartram legacy. John Bartram (May 23, 1699-September 1777). William Bartram (April 9, 1739-July 22, 1823)
• The intriguing naturalist: André Michaux (March 7, 1746-November 1802)
• A peculiar liking for insects: John Abbot (June 11, 1751-1840)
• The lovely face of nature: Alexander Wilson (July 6, 1766-August 23, 1813)
• The man who painted birds: John James Audubon (April 26, 1785-January 27, 1851)
• The Garden of Eden: Hardy Bryan Croom (October 8, 1797-October 9, 1837)
• Medicine man: Alvan Wentworth Chapman (September 28, 1809-April 6, 1899)
• Walking in heaven's light: John Muir (April 21, 1838-December 24, 1914)
• A voice for Florida conservation: John Kunkel Small (January 31, 1869-January 21, 1938)
• Saving a swamp. Roland Harper (August 11, 1878-April 30, 1966). Francis Harper (November 17, 1886-November 17, 1972).

Following the original steps of pioneering naturalists, Gail Fishman profiles thirteen men who explored North America's southeastern wilderness between 1715 and the 1940s, including John James Audubon, Mark Catesby, John and William Bartram, John Muir, and Alvan Wentworth Chapman. The book is also Fishman's personal travelogue as she experiences the landscape through their eyes and describes the changes that have occurred along the region's trails and streams. Traveling by horseback, boat, and foot, these naturalists - dedicated to their task and blessed with passion and insatiable curiosity - explored gentle mountains, regal forests, and shadowy swamps. Their interests ran deeper than merely cataloging plants and animals. They identified the continent's foundations and the habits and histories of the flora and fauna of the landscape. Fishman tells us who they were and what compelled them to pursue their work. She evaluates what they accomplished and measures their importance, also pointing out their strengths and failings. And she paints an engaging picture of what America was like at the time. Fishman combines natural history and American history into a series of portraits that recapture the American Southeast as it was seen by those who first tramped through the wilderness and whose voices from the beginning urged the preservation of wild places.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780813018744 20160618

• "The truly honest, ingenious, and modest Mr. Mark Catesby, F.R.S." : documenting his life (1682/83-1749) / E. Charles Nelson
• Behind the scenes : Catesby the man, viewed through the lens of a camera / Cynthia P. Neal
• Mark Catesby's botanical forerunners in Virginia / Karen Reeds
• Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) : pioneering naturalist, artist, and inspiration for Catesby / Kay Etheridge and Florence F.J.M. Pieters
• William Dampier (1651-1715) : the pirate of exquisite mind / Diana Preston and Michael Preston
• John Lawson's A new voyage to Carolina and his "Compleat history" : the Mark Catesby connection / Marcus B. Simpson Jr.
• Mark Catesby's world : England / Janet Browne
• Mark Catesby's world : Virginia / Sarah Hand Meacham
• Mark Catesby's Carolina adventure / Suzanne Linder Hurley
• Mark Catesby's Bahamian natural history (observed in 1725-1726) / Robert Robertson
• Mark Catesby's preparatory drawings for The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands / Henrietta McBurney
• The publication of Mark Catesby's The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands / Leslie K. Overstreet
• The plant collections of Mark Catesby in Oxford / Stephen A. Harris
• Carl Linnaeus and the influence of Mark Catesby's botanical work / C.E. Jarvis
• The economic botany and ethnobotany of Mark Catesby / W. Hardy Eshhaugh
• "Of birds of passage" : Mark Catesby and contemporary theories on bird migration and torpor / Shepard Krech III
• Catesby's animals (other than birds) in The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands / Aaron M. Bauer
• Catesby's fundamental contributions to Linnaeus's binomial catalog of North American animals / Kraig Adler
• Mark Catesby's plant introductions and English gardens of the eighteenth century / Mark Laird
• Following in the footsteps of Mark Catesby / Judith Magee
• Inspiration from The natural history of Carolina... by Mark Catesby / Ghillean T. Prance
• Conclusions : Account, appendix, Hortus, and other endings among Mark Catesby's work / David J. Elliott
• Appendix : Identification of the plants and animals illustrated by Mark Catesby for The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands / James L. Reveal.

In 1712, English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) crossed the Atlantic to Virginia. After a seven-year stay, he returned to England with paintings of plants and animals he had studied. They sufficiently impressed other naturalists that in 1722 several Fellows of the Royal Society sponsored his return to North America. There Catesby catalogued the flora and fauna of the Carolinas and the Bahamas by gathering seeds and specimens, compiling notes, and making watercolour sketches. Going home to England after five years, he began the twenty-year task of writing, etching, and publishing his monumental The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands . Mark Catesby was a man of exceptional courage and determination combined with insatiable curiosity and multiple talents. Nevertheless no portrait of him is known. The international contributors to this volume review Catesby's biography alongside the historical and scientific significance of his work. Ultimately, this lavishly illustrated volume advances knowledge of Catesby's explorations, collections, artwork, and publications in order to reassess his importance within the pantheon of early naturalists.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780820347264 20160618

• The Formation of John Muir
• "Restless Fires" : From Mechanic to Walking Botanist
• Setting Out
• Challenges in Tennessee
• Georgia and "the Natural Beauty of Death"
• Florida : A "Strange" Land and Sharpened Thought
• Cedar Key : Malaria, Delay, and Detour
• Convalescence, Cuba, and Onward to Yosemite.

Restless Fires provides a detailed rendering of John Muir's thousand-mile walk to the Gulf based on both manuscript and published accounts. Hunt particularly examines the development of Muir's environmental thought as a young adult. The legacy of this walk is found in Muir's perceptive insights generated in part by his background and reading, and by his experience with the Southern environment and its people and plants during the walk. Muir witnessed the Civil War's devastating impacts and efforts towards Reconstruction on towns, villages, and people. This is one of the first books on John Muir's thousand-mile walk that places his journey in the context of the Civil War and Reconstruction, to which Muir gave only passing witness.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780881463927 20160610