This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for CaliforniaÕs remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem typeÑits distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and terrestrial, natural and managed. Each chapter evaluates natural processes for a specific ecosystem, describes drivers of change, and discusses how that ecosystem may be altered in the future. This book also explores the drivers of CaliforniaÕs ecological patterns and the history of the stateÕs various ecosystems, outlining how the challenges of climate change and invasive species and opportunities for regulation and stewardship could potentially affect the stateÕs ecosystems. The text explicitly incorporates both human impacts and conservation and restoration efforts and shows how ecosystems support human well-being. Edited by two esteemed ecosystem ecologists and with overviews by leading experts on each ecosystem, this definitive work will be indispensable for natural resource management and conservation professionals as well as for undergraduate or graduate students of CaliforniaÕs environment and curious naturalists.

This book brings together experts from different fields, who used a broad spectrum of methods to investigate the physiological and cellular adaptation of alpine plants from the tree line to the upper limits. Some articles link alpine plant physiology with physiological adaptations observed in polar plants. Tolerance against often high light intensities (including UV), cold or freezing temperatures, in addition to the need for fast tissue development, flowering, and propagation that is managed by alpine plants are to some extent underrepresented in recent research. This volume considers ice formation and winter conditions in alpine plants; the fate of cryophilic algae and microorganisms; cell structural adaptations; sexual reproduction in high altitudes; the physiology of photosynthesis, antioxidants, metabolites, carbon and nitrogen; and the influences of microclimate (temperatures at the plant level, heat tolerance), UV light, weather and ozone. Further information on life processes in alpine extreme environments may additionally yield new insights into the range of adaptation processes in lowland plants.

These experienced and highly respected nature writers have produced an outstanding field guide to the plants that grow above the tree line, at the higher elevations of the Rockies and Cascades, and other ranges of the Western Cordillera of North America. Here is comprehensive information on almost 1,200 species of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and more, with over 2,000 illustrations: color photos, line drawings and range maps.

Generations of plant scientists have been fascinated by alpine plant lifean ecosystem that experiences dramatic climatic gradients over a very short distance. This comprehensive book examines a wide range of topics including alpine climate and soils, plant distribution and the treeline phenomenon, plant stress and development, global change at high elevation, and the human impact on alpine vegetation. Geographically, the book covers all parts of the world including the tropics.

North America is replete with beautiful aplines, and this guide is equally useful to the traveler or the gardener for its identification, propagation, and cultivation information.

A concise introduction to the science behind the success of alpine plants, this fascinating and accessible book will enable gardeners to tailor their cultivation practices in lowland gardens to mimic the alpine habitat as closely as possible.

With this reference, gardeners can successfully replicate alpine plants' native conditions, allowing them to grow such choice alpines as gentians, daphnes, and Dianthus. Dramatic photographs and descriptions take readers through the Pyrenees, Alps, Balkans, and Carpathians to capture the charms of these unique mountain plants.