To contemplate an alpine lake or a ribbon of white water twisting down the face of the Rocky Mountains is to appreciate the majesty of this block of bedrock thrust up from Earth’s interior, weathering eons of nature's assaults. To learn what humans, in our brief lifespan, have done here is to acquire a sobering sense of our place in the natural world. Ellen Wohl’s account of a year in the life of Rocky Mountain National Park reflects a lifelong interest in these rhythms and disruptions. In...

Explores the effects of wildfires on land, water, vegetation, wildlife, and humansAcross the world, wildfires are increasing in frequency, extent, and severity, driven by changes in land use and climate. After the immediate hazards of fire and smoke have passed, landscapes and ecosystems can be left altered for decades.Landscapes on Fire: Impacts on Uplands, Rivers, and Communities presents an overview of wildfires and their after-effects on differ...

An engaging and thought-provoking introduction to river scienceWhen we look at a river, either up close or while flying over a river valley, what are we really seeing? Following the Bend takes readers on a majestic journey by water to find answers, along the way shedding light on the key concepts of modern river science, from hydrology and water chemistry to stream and wetland ecology.In this accessible and uniquely personal book, Ellen Wohl explai...

Rivers are the great shapers of terrestrial landscapes. Very few points on Earth above sea level do not lie within a drainage basin. Even points distant from the nearest channel are likely to be influenced by that channel. Tectonic uplift raises rock thousands of meters above sea level. Precipitation falling on the uplifted terrain concentrates into channels that carry sediment downward to the oceans and influence the steepness of adjacent hill slopes by governing the rate at which the lan...

This work is designed to broaden the scope with which many people regard a river. Rivers are commonly regarded from a very simplistic perspective as conduits for downstream flows of water. In this context, it may be considered acceptable and necessary to engineer the channel to either facilitate such flows (e.g., channelization, levees) or limit flows and store water (e.g., water supply reservoirs, flood control). The book presents the concept of a river as a spatially and temporally compl...

In Wide Rivers Crossed, Ellen Wohl tells the stories of two rivers—the South Platte on the western plains and the Illinois on the eastern—to represent the environmental history and historical transformation of major rivers across the American prairie. Wohl begins with the rivers’ natural histories, including their geologic history, physical characteristics, ecological communities, and earliest human impacts, and follows a downstream and historical progression from the use of the r...

In Snap Out of It: An Unexpected Caregivers Way to Self-Care, Stability, and Survival, author Ellen Teitelman Wohl shares her honest, emotional?—?sometimes funny?—?memoir of the continuing struggle to keep life whole while her husband Jack’s health falls apart, over and over again: bipolar disorder, coronary artery disease, lung cancer, diabetes, and normal pressure hydrocephalus, among other medical conditions. While Jack has a remarkable team of doctors treating him, Ellen only has herse...

Island of Grass tells the story of the Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area, a 240-acre preserve surrounded by housing developments in Fort Collins, Colorado. This small grassland is a remnant of the once-vast prairies of the West that early European explorers and settlers described as seas of grass.Agricultural land use and urban expansion during the past two centuries have fragmented and altered these prairies. All that remains today are small islands. These remnants cannot support...

Landscape—the unique combination of landforms, plants, animals, and weather that compose any natural place—is inherently transient. Each essay in Transient Landscapes introduces this idea of a constantly metamorphosing global landscape, revealing how to see the ubiquity of landscape transience, both that which results through Earth’s natural environmental and climatological processes and that which comes from human intervention.The essays are grouped by type of environment...

The natural world holds secrets under every rock and around every tree. If you've ever wondered what life is like through a microscope, telescope, or with the naked eye--you'll love this book!You will:Run with the antelope across the American plains and learn about the food chain.Climb with a monkey to the highest tree in the rainforest and discover how photosynthesis keeps leaves green.Sink to the bottom of the ocean to follow cre...

“A love poem to the living things that inhabit the mountains and rivers of Washington, coastal Oregon, and southwestern British Columbia.” —Saul Weisberg, executive director, North Cascades InstituteMore than just a field guide, Cascadia Revealed is the essential trailside reference for naturalists, hikers, and campers. With engaging prose and precise science, Dan Mathews brings the mountains alive with stories of their formation and profiles of the plants...

This revised and expanded edition of an award-winning book not only explores British Columbia’s stunning ecology but also features an increased focus on climate change. With expanded sections on the province’s geological history, updated information on the mountain pine beetle and the future of B.C.’s biodiversity, and fresh information on many other topics, this edition includes new illustrations, photos, sidebars, and new and revised maps.Both an authoritative reference and an ea...