Lichens are a unique form of plant life, the product of a symbiotic association between an alga and a fungus. The beauty and importance of lichens have long been overlooked, despite their abundance and diversity in most parts of North America and elsewhere in the world. This stunning book--the first accessible and authoritative guidebook to lichens of the North American continent--fills the gap, presenting superb color photographs, descriptions, distribution maps, and keys for identifying the most common, conspicuous, or ecologically significant species. The book focuses on 805 foliose, fruticose, and crustose lichens (the latter rarely included in popular guidebooks) and presents information on another 700 species in the keys or notes; special attention is given to species endemic to North America. A comprehensive introduction discusses the biology, structure, uses, and ecological significance of lichens and is illustrated with 90 additional color photos and many line drawings. English names are provided for most species, and the book also includes a glossary that explains technical terms. This visually rich and informative book will open the eyes of nature lovers everywhere to the fascinating world of lichens.

Includes "Lichens of the boreal coniferous zone" by Teuvo Ahti.

As an intricate association between a fungus and one or more green algae or cyanobacteria, lichens are one of the most successful examples of symbiosis. These fascinating organisms survive extreme desiccation and temperatures. They are adapted to a great variety of habitats, from deserts to intertidal zones, from tropical rain forests to the peaks of the Himalayas and to circumpolar ecosystems. Lichens are extremely efficient accumulators of atmospherically deposited pollutants, and are therefore widely used to monitor environmental pollution. Their wide range of secondary products show pharmaceutically interesting fungicidal, antibacterial and antiviral properties. Lichens are extremely difficult to culture. This manual provides well-tested tissue culture protocols, protocols for studying lichen ultrastructure, (eco)physiology, primary and secondary compounds, and for using lichens as bioindicators.

This revised and extended edition provides in-depth insights into the benefits and untapped potential of lichen-derived bioactive compounds. The whole spectrum of these compounds’ biological and medical functions, from antibiotic to antiviral and anti-carcinogenic properties, is presented. In addition, a new chapter discusses the anti-neurodegenerative and anti-diabetic activities of lichenic secondary metabolites. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable asset for students and researchers in this field.

This manual provides illustrated keys to all leaf and scale lichens known to occur in British Columbia. In total, 327 species are included, while 19 taxa are excluded from earlier accounts of the flora. Accompanying the keys are approximately 350 line drawings. The manual briefly summarizes the ecology, distribution, and frequency status of the province's foliose and squamulose lichens. Each genus account provides a common name, a short description, pertinent references, notes on the derivation of the common name, and notes on global status and distribution, taxonomy, chemistry, and/or similar genera. Each species account provides species and author citation, distribution maps, common names, habit, and lichen distribution in B.C.

The Handbook provides a supporting guide to key aspects and applications of landscape ecology to underpin its research and teaching. A wide range of contributions written by expert researchers in the field summarize the latest knowledge on landscape ecology theory and concepts, landscape processes, methods and tools, and emerging frontiers. Landscape ecology is an interdisciplinary and holistic discipline, and this is reflected in the chapters contained in this Handbook. Authors from varying disciplinary backgrounds tackle key concepts such as landscape structure and function, scale and connectivity; landscape processes such as disturbance, flows, and fragmentation; methods such as remote sensing and mapping, fieldwork, pattern analysis, modelling, and participation and engagement in landscape planning; and emerging frontiers such as ecosystem services, landscape approaches to biodiversity conservation, and climate change. Each chapter provides a blend of the latest scientific understanding of its focal topics along with considerations and examples of their application from around the world. An invaluable guide to the concepts, methods, and applications of landscape ecology, this book will be an important reference text for a wide range of students and academics in ecology, geography, biology, and interdisciplinary environmental studies.

This is a discovery book about plants. It is for students In the first section, introduction to plants, there are sev of botany and botanical illustration and everyone inter eral sources for various types of drawings. Hypotheti ested in plants. Here is an opportunity to browse and cal diagrams show cells, organelles, chromosomes, the choose subjects of personal inter. est, to see and learn plant body indicating tissue systems and experiments about plants as they are described. By adding color to with plants, and flower placentation and reproductive the drawings, plant structures become more apparent structures. For example, there is no average or stan and show how they function in life. The color code dard-looking flower; so to clearly show the parts of a clues tell how to color for definition and an illusion of flower (see 27), a diagram shows a stretched out and depth. For more information, the text explains the illus exaggerated version of a pink (Dianthus) flower (see trations. The size of the drawings in relation to the true 87). A basswood (Tifia) flower is the basis for diagrams size of the structures is indicated by X 1 (the same size) of flower types and ovary positions (see 28). Another to X 3000 (enlargement from true size) and X n/n source for drawings is the use of prepared microscope (reduction from true size). slides of actual plant tissues.

With a population of more than eighteen million people, Mexico City is a major metropolitan area where the effects of urban development on air quality are of immediate concern. Air pollution exposures and effects on forests in the Mexico City Air Basin are in many respects similar to those reported in the Los Angeles, California Air Basin. Studies of air pollution impacts on forests in these two regions may serve as models for urban areas all over the world. Although scientists have studied air pollution and its effects on forests and vegetation in the Mexico City Air Basin for years, this book reviews and synthesizes this body of work for the first time. This synthesis is particularly valuable as air pollution increases at an alarming rate along with global urbanization. A thorough discussion of regional geology, climate and hydrology, historical natural resource utilization, and sociological factors provide the context for evaluating air pollution impacts on the highly valued forests surrounding this megacity. The environmental and ecological consequences of chronic exposure to biologically important pollutants are considered in various case studies. Finally, the editors discuss the state of air pollution research in the Mexico City Air Basin and the outlook for the health and sustainability of forests within the Basin.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “brilliant [and] entrancing” (The Guardian) journey into the hidden lives of fungi—the great connectors of the living world—and their astonishing and intimate roles in human life, with the power to heal our bodies, expand our minds, and help us address our most urgent environmental problems. “Grand and dizzying in how thoroughly it recalibrates our understanding of the natural world.”—Ed Yong, author of An Immense World ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—Time, BBC Science Focus, The Daily Mail, Geographical, The Times, The Telegraph, New Statesman, London Evening Standard, Science Friday When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave. In the first edition of this mind-bending book, Sheldrake introduced us to this mysterious but massively diverse kingdom of life. This exquisitely designed volume, abridged from the original, features more than one hundred full-color images that bring the spectacular variety, strangeness, and beauty of fungi to life as never before. Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life’s processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms—and our relationships with them—are changing our understanding of how life works. Winner of the Wainwright Prize, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, and the Guild of Food Writers Award • Shortlisted for the British Book Award • Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize