The Natural Communities of Georgia presents a comprehensive overview of the state’s natural landscapes, providing an ecological context to enhance understanding of this region’s natural history. Georgia boasts an impressive range of natural communities, assemblages of interacting species that have either been minimally impacted by modern human activities or have successfully recovered from them. This guide makes the case that identifying these distinctive communities and the factors that determine their distribution are central to understanding Georgia’s ecological diversity and the steps necessary for its conservation. Within Georgia’s five major ecoregions the editors identify and describe a total of sixty-six natural communities, such as the expansive salt marshes of the barrier islands in the Maritime ecoregion, the fire-driven longleaf pine woodlands of the Coastal Plain, the beautiful granite outcrops of the Piedmont, the rare prairies of the Ridge and Valley, and the diverse coves of the Blue Ridge. With contributions from scientists who have managed, researched, and written about Georgia landscapes for decades, the guide features more than four hundred color photographs that reveal the stunning natural beauty and diversity of the state. The book also explores conservation issues, including rare or declining species, current and future threats to specific areas, and research needs, and provides land management strategies for preserving, restoring, and maintaining biotic communities. The Natural Communities of Georgia is an essential reference for ecologists and other scientists, as well as a rich resource for Georgians interested in the region’s natural heritage.

Abundantly illustrated with more than 400 color photographs and 200 detailed drawings, this comprehensive guide to the state's rare and endangered plants provides photographs and botanical illustrations in a single volume formatted for field use. More than 200 species are covered, including two dozen that are federally listed and 170-plus that are listed as Threatened, Endangered, Rare, or of Special Concern by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The guide is designed for easy, nontechnical identification of species in the field. Color photographs show the plants in their natural surroundings, and drawings emphasize the most distinctive parts of the plants. Packed with information about the plants as well as their habitats and management, the guide facilitates the quick recognition of rare species, encourages awareness of their distribution and ecological significance, and provides guidelines for ensuring their survival. Additional features include directions for using the guide, a map of Georgia's counties, descriptions of the natural communities of Georgia, references for further reading, a glossary of frequently used terms, and indexes of scientific and common plant names. The guide also includes a chapter by Jennifer Ceska and University of Georgia horticulture professor James Affolter, founding members of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, on horticultural requirements of rare species and the role of GPCA in their protection. This is a valuable resource for students, wildflower enthusiasts, botanists, land managers, and environmental decision makers. Each species account includes: one or more full-color photographs Georgia distribution map line drawing emphasizing such key field identification characters as leaf, stem, flower, and fruit scientific and common names legal and wetland status brief nontechnical description emphasizing key field identification characters flowering, fruiting, or sporulation period description of species habitat information on best survey season range-wide distribution Georgia conservation status management guidelines information on similar species and related rare species list of references

Sapelo, a state-protected barrier island off the Georgia coast, is one of the state’s greatest treasures. Presently owned almost exclusively by the state and managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Sapelo features unique nature charac­teristics that have made it a locus for scientific research and ecological conservation. Beginning in 1949, when then Sapelo owner R. J. Reynolds Jr. founded the Sapelo Island Research Foundation and funded the research of biologist Eugene Odum, UGA’s study of the island’s fragile wetlands helped foster the modern ecology movement. With this book, Buddy Sullivan covers the full range of the island’s history, including Native American inhabitants; Spanish missions; the antebellum plantation of the innovative Thomas Spalding; the African American settlement of the island after the Civil War; Sapelo’s two twentieth-century millionaire owners, Howard E. Coffin and R. J. Reynolds Jr., and the development of the University of Georgia Marine Institute; the state of Georgia acquisition; and the transition of Sapelo’s multiple African American communities into one. Sapelo Island’s history also offers insights into the unique cultural circumstances of the residents of the community of Hog Hammock. Sullivan provides in-depth examination of the important correlation between Sapelo’s culturally significant Geechee communities and the succession of private and state owners of the island. The book’s thematic approach is one of “people and place”: how prevailing environmental conditions influenced the way white and black owners used the land over generations, from agriculture in the past to island management in the present. Enhanced by a large selection of contemporary color photographs of the island as well as a selection of archival images and maps, Sapelo documents a unique island history.