{"product_id":"sierra-nevada-the-naturalists-companion-revised-edition-9780520224889","title":"Sierra Nevada: The Naturalist's Companion  Revised edition","description":"\u003cp\u003eAll lovers of the mountains will welcome Verna Johnstons new and completely updated edition of her classic  Sierra Nevada  originally published in 1970. A professional biologist  veteran ornithologist  and well-known wildlife photographer  Johnston is the perfect guide for a natural-history trip into the Sierra. Regardless of how one explores the magnificent 400-mile-long mountain range  on foot or by car  in an armchair or a classroom  this is the book to have.  Beginning with the western foothills  Johnston evokes a vivid picture of the varied plant and animal life encountered as the elevation increases  tops the crest  and drops to the more precipitous  arid eastern Sierra slope. The reader is taken through chaparral and mountain meadows  pine and fir forests  granite expanses and snowy peaks. Johnston writes of the Native Americans uses and stewardship of the land  the role of fire in forest ecology  the eras of sheep herders and loggers  the work of John Muir and other preservationists  and the battles to save Mono Lake and Lake Tahoe. Her lifetime of field experience and discovery offers intimate observations of rarely recorded events: the courtship of the Sierra Nevada salamander  a wolverine attacking two bears  a fight to the death between a skink and a scorpion.  Many changes have occurred in the Sierra since the first edition of this book was published  including acid snow  tensions involving human and cougar habitats  and an ominous drop in amphibian populations. Johnston documents these events and updates the ecological research in the rich  evocative writing style that makes her book a naturalists treasure. This is a guide to the Sierra Nevada for the next millennium.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647563423797,"sku":"ByrdShop_0520224884","price":24.22,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780520224889.jpg?v=1781693009","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/sierra-nevada-the-naturalists-companion-revised-edition-9780520224889","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}