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A guide to help people, both experienced and novices, identify reptiles and amphibians in Arizona
Even in paradise, one needs to be mindful of whatÕs underfoot. The Sabino Canyon Recreation Area is a desert oasis in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, a rich repository of wildlife and a favorite destination for Tucsonans and visitors for more than a century. This book presents annotated and illustrated descriptions of the amphibians and reptiles found at Sabino Canyon and an overview of their natural environment. Representing a study spanning nearly twenty-five years, it documents their present and past distribution and examines environmental and herpetofaunal change due to physical, biological, and human impact on species and habitats. In this first publication to describe Sabino CanyonÕs biota in scientific detail, three expert authors pool their knowledge to provide a detailed discussion of ecological changeÑespecially as a consequence of drought, flooding, the introduction of exotic species, and direct human impact. Suburbia has arrived on the canyonÕs doorstep, and human visitation has soared, inalterably affecting the area. Of particular concern, breeding habitats for amphibians were profoundly altered by flash flooding in SabinoÕs streams following the 2003 Aspen Fire, which ravaged large parts of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The book contains richly detailed accounts of the 57 species found at SabinoÑ25 snakes, 17 lizards, 8 toads and frogs, 6 turtles, and 1 salamanderÑemphasizing their local ecology and the behavior likely to be witnessed by visitors. Physical descriptions and numerous photographsÑmany in colorÑfacilitate identification. Up-to-date distribution maps provide an essential baseline against which future researchers can measure change. Amphibians, Reptiles, and Their Habitats at Sabino Canyon is essential for anyone who seeks to understand this desert oasis, how it has changed, and how it may change in the future. Written with minimal technical jargon to make it as useful to students and visitors as it will be to scientists and resource managers, it makes a vital contribution to our understanding of creatures underfoot whose habitat we seek to share.
A dichotomous key (that is, one that gives the user only two choices at each level of morphological scrutiny), it is designed for use in college-level herpetology or vertebrate biology courses. It will be especially useful as an effective tool for teaching the principles of taxonomy and for introducing students to the systematics of amphibians and reptiles.
Tips for finding these species, conservation issues, exotic species, and other topics are covered in additional chapters." "Of particular note is the enclosed compact disc, narrated and produced by well-known naturalist Lang Elliott, that will make it easy to learn to identify all the frogs and toads by their songs. The CD also includes a long unnarrated series of frog choruses."--BOOK JACKET.
A heavily illustrated dictionary of selected reptiles and amphibians.
Transportation of species to areas outside their native ranges has been a feature of human culture for millennia. During this time such activities have largely been viewed as beneficial or inconsequential. However, it has become increasingly clear that human-caused introductions of alien biota are an ecological disruption whose consequences rival those of better-known insults like chemical pollution, habitat loss, and climate change. Indeed, the irreversible nature of most alien-species int- ductions makes them less prone to correction than many other ecological problems. Current reshuffling of species ranges is so great that the present era has been referred to by some as the “Homogocene” in an effort to reflect the unique mag- tude of the changes being made. These alien interlopers often cause considerable ecological and economic d- age where introduced. Species extinctions, food-web disruptions, community alte- tions, ecosystem conversion, changes in nutrient cycling, fisheries collapse, watershed degradation, agricultural loss, building damage, and disease epidemics are among the destructive – and frequently unpredictable – ecological and economic effects that invasive alien species can inflict. The magnitude of these damages c- tinues to grow, with virtually all environments heavily used by humans now do- nated by alien species and many “natural” areas becoming increasingly prone to alien invasion as well. Attention to this problem has increased in the past decade or so, and efforts to prevent or limit further harm are gaining wider scientific and political acceptance.
"A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert provides the most complete collection of Sonoran Desert natural history information ever compiled and is a perfect introduction to this biologically rich desert of North America."--BOOK JACKET.
This dictionary introduces young readers to the world of reptiles and amphibians. It will allow them to explore a variety of reptiles and amphibians, including crocodiles and alligators; turtles and tortoises; lizards; snakes; frogs and toads; and newts and salamanders.