The emerald horizon : the history of nature in Iowa / Cornelia F. Mutel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mutel, Cornelia Fleischer.

Series:

Bur oak book.

A Bur oak book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Natural history--Iowa--History.

Natural history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (329 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Since so much of the tallgrass state has been transformed into an agricultural landscape, Mutel focuses on understanding today's natural environment by understanding yesterday's changes. After summarizing the geological, archaeological, and ecological features that shaped Iowa's modern landscape, she recreates the once-wild native communities that existed prior to Euroamerican settlement. Next she examines the dramatic changes that overtook native plant and animal communities as Iowa's prairies, woodlands, and wetlands were transformed. Finally she presents realistic techniques for restoring n

Contents:

Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Prologue; 1. Setting the Stage; 2. A Miracle of Sight, Scent, and Sound; 3. The Great Transformation; 4. Prairies Today; 5. Oak Woodlands and Bottomland Forests Today; 6. Restoring Nature's Systems; 7. Present Quandaries, Future Quests; Epilogue; Appendix. Common and Scientific Names of Native and Naturalized Plants in the Text; Bibliographic Acknowledgments; References Cited; Index; Selected Bur Oak Books/Natural History

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [273]-287) and index.

ISBN:

9781587297472

1587297477

OCLC:

297115874