Neotropical Companion : An Introduction To The Animals, Plants And Ecosystems Of The New World Tropics, Revised And Expanded - 2nd edition

Summary: A Neotropical Companion is an extraordinarily readable introduction to the American tropics, the lands of Central and South America, their remarkable rainforests and other ecosystems, and the creatures that live there. It is the most comprehensive one-volume guide to the Neotropics available today. Widely praised in its first edition, it remains a book of unparalleled value to tourists, students, and scientists alike. This second edition has been substantially ...show more revised and expanded to incorporate the abundance of new scientific information that has been produced since it was first published in 1989. Major additions have been made to every chapter, and new chapters have been added on Neotropical ecosystems, human ecology, and the effects of deforestation. Biodiversity and its preservation are discussed throughout the book, and Neotropical evolution is described in detail. This new edition offers all new drawings and photographs, many of them in color.

As enthusiastic readers of the first edition will attest, this is a charming book. Wearing his learning lightly and writing with ease and humor, John Kricher presents the complexities of tropical ecology as accessible and nonintimidating. Kricher is so thoroughly knowledgeable and the book is so complete in its coverage that general readers and ecotourists will not need any other book to help them identify and understand the plants and animals, from birds to bugs, that they will encounter in their travels to the New World tropics. At the same time, it will fascinate armchair travelers and students who may get no closer to the Neotropics than this engagingly written book.


"The book is exactly what it says it is, a companion to take with you on your travels in the New World tropics. . . . The author has written . . . with just the right amount of informality and humor." --Journal of Natural History "An intense and lively field guide. . .compact and richly substantive" --Scientific American ...show less

Edition/Copyright: 2ND 97
Cover: Paperback
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 08/16/1999

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Kricher, John : Wheaton College

John Kricher is Professor of Biology at Wheaton College, where he is the first recipient of the Bojan Hamlin Jennings Chair in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Among the many books he has written are A Field Guide to Ecology of Eastern Forests and A Field Guide to Ecology of Western Forests.

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"The book is exactly what it says it is, a companion to take with you on your travels in the New World tropics. . . . The author has written . . . with just the right amount of informality and humor."

--Journal of Natural History

"An intense and lively field guide. . .compact and richly substantive."

--Scientific American

Submitted by the Publisher, March, 2002

View Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
A Personal Note to the Reader
Conversions

Chapter 1. Tropical Climates and Ecosystems
Chapter 2. Rainforest Structure and Diversity
Chapter 3. How a Rainforest Functions
Chapter 4. Evolutionary Patterns in the Tropics
Chapter 5. Complexities of Coevolution and Ecology of Fruit
Chapter 6. The Neotropical Pharmacy
Chapter 7. Living Off the Land in the Tropics
Chapter 8. Rivers through Rainforest
Chapter 9. Introduction to the Andes and Tepuis
Chapter 10. Savannas and Dry Forests
Chapter 11. Coastal Ecosystems: Mangroves, Seagrass, and Coral Reefs
Chapter 12. Neotropical Birds
Chapter 13. A Rainforest Bestiary
Chapter 14. Deforestation and Conservation of Biodiversity

Appendix "And Hey, Let's Be Careful Out There"
Acronyms
Glossary
Neotropical Field Guides and Handbooks
Recommended Book-Length References
Literature Cited
Index