The vanishing present : Wisconsin's changing lands, waters, and wildlife / edited by Donald M. Waller and Thomas P. Rooney.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Waller, Donald M.

Rooney, Thomas P.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ecological succession--Wisconsin.

Ecological succession.

Biodiversity--Wisconsin.

Biodiversity.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (530 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Straddling temperate forests and grassland biomes and stretching along the coastline of two Great Lakes, Wisconsin contains tallgrass prairie and oak savanna, broadleaf and coniferous forests, wetlands, natural lakes, and rivers. But, like the rest of the world, the Badger State has been transformed by urbanization and sprawl, population growth, and land-use change. For decades, industry and environment have attempted to coexist in Wisconsin-and the dynamic tensions between economic progress and environmental protection makes the state a fascinating microcosm for studying global environmental change. The Vanishing Present brings together a distinguished set of contributors-including scientists, naturalists, and policy experts-to examine how human pressures on Wisconsin's changing lands, waters, and wildlife have redefined the state's ecology. Though they focus on just one state, the authors draw conclusions about changes in temperate habitats that can be applied elsewhere, and offer useful insights into future of the ecology, conservation, and sustainability of Wisconsin and beyond. A fitting tribute to the home state of Aldo Leopold and John Muir, The Vanishing Present is an accessible and timely case study of a significant ecosystem and its response to environmental change.

Contents:

The Vanishing Present

Frontmatter

Contents

Contributors

Illustrations

Plates

1. Assembling the Puzzle

Part One: Perspectives

Introduction

2. The View from Man Mound

3. The Challenge of Unveiling the Invisible Present

4. Thinking Like a Flower: Phenology and Climate Change at the Leopold Shack

Part Two: Changing Plant Communities

5. Broad-Scale Change in the Northern Forests: From Past to Present

6. Plant Species Diversity in the Once and Future Northwoods

7. From the Prairie-Forest Mosaic to the Forest: Dynamics of Southern Wisconsin Woodlands

8. Savanna and Prairie: Requiem for the Past, Hope for the Future

9. Plant Communities of Great Lakes Islands

10. Patterns in Wisconsin Lichen Diversity

11. How Have Wisconsin's Lichen Communities

Part Three: Changing Waters and the Land-Water Interface

12. Great Lakes Ecosystems: Invasions, Food Web Dynamics, and the Challenge of Ecological Restoration

13. Documenting and Halting Declines of Nongame Fishes in Southern Wisconsin

14. Change in Wisconsin's Coastal Wetlands

15. Southern Wisconsin's Herbaceous Wetlands: Their Recent History and Precarious Future

16. Shifting Plants in Wisconsin Lakes

17. Changes in the Wisconsin River and Its Floodplain

Part Four: Changing Animal Communities

18. Changes in Mammalian Carnivore Populations

19. Deer as Both a Cause and Reflection of Ecological Change

20. Changes in Amphibian and Reptile Communities

21. Two Centuries of Changes in Grassland Bird Populations and Their Habitats in Wisconsin

22. Wisconsin's Changing Bird Communities

23. Changes in the Butterfly and Moth Fauna

Part Five: Nature Meets Us: The Social and Political Context

24. Public Lands and Waters and Changes in Conservation

25. Urbanization and Ecological Change in Milwaukee County

26. Ecological Footprints of Urbanization and Sprawl: Toward a City Ethic

27. Influences of Policy, Planning, and Management on Ecological Change

Part Six: Trajectories

28. Seeking Adaptive Change in Wisconsin's Ecosystems

29. Forecasting Species Invasions in Wisconsin Lakes and Streams

30. Nonnative Terrestrial Species Invasions

31. The Potential Futures of Wisconsin's Forested Landscapes

Conclusion

32. The Big Picture

Glossary

Scientific Names

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612240096

9781282240094

1282240099

9780226871745

0226871746

OCLC:

567989945