Featured Books
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Expand List: Display All Titles on List, including non-GCC titles Sort By: Rank | Title | Year | Call Number | Limits: eBooks Only | No Limits |
Pollinators in Peril
(Librarian Selected)
Pesticides and GMOs
by Bae, Yea Jee
In a world in which so many are hungry, scientific advances in agriculture can have a substantial impact. Pesticides and GMOs help ensure that more of us can enjoy nutritious produce, but do they do more harm than good? From fears of causing cancer to the future of small and family farmers, there are enough questions about pesticides and GMOs to fuel their critics. Yet the list of benefits is hard to ignore. The diverse viewpoints from authoritative voices in the field will provide readers with a full picture of this complex topic.
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How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do
by Chalker-Scott, Linda
How Plants Work brings the stranger-than-fiction science of the plant world to vivid life. It explains how plants tell time, how they move to follow the sun and capture food, and why they change color. Linda Chalder-Scott, of the popular blog The Garden Professors, uncovers these and other fascinating mysteries in this engaging and accessible introduction to plant physiology.
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Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees
by Hanson, Thor
From the award-winning author of The Triumph of Seeds and Feathers, a natural and cultural history of the buzzing wee beasties that make the world go round. Bees are like oxygen: ubiquitous, essential, and, for the most part, unseen. While we might overlook them, they lie at the heart of relationships that bind the human and natural worlds. In Buzz, the beloved Thor Hanson takes us on a journey that begins 125 million years ago, when a wasp first dared to feed pollen to its young. From honeybees and bumbles to lesser-known diggers, miners, leafcutters, and masons, bees have long been central to our harvests, our mythologies, and our very existence. They've given us sweetness and light, the beauty of flowers, and as much as a third of the foodstuffs we eat. And, alarmingly, they are at risk of disappearing. As informative and enchanting as the waggle dance of a honeybee, Buzz shows us why all bees are wonders to celebrate and protect. Read this book and you'll never overlook them again.
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Protecting Pollinators: How to Save the Creatures that Feed our World
by Helmer, Jodi
We should thank a pollinator at every meal. These diminutive creatures fertilize a third of the crops we eat. Yet half of the 200,000 species of pollinators are threatened. Birds, bats, insects, and many other pollinators are disappearing, putting our entire food supply in jeopardy. In North America and Europe, bee populations have already plummeted by more than a third and the population of butterflies has declined 31 percent. Protecting Pollinators explores why the statistics have become so dire and how they can be reversed. Jodi Helmer breaks down the latest science on environmental threats and takes readers inside the most promising conservation initiatives. Efforts include farmers reducing pesticides, cities creating butterfly highways, volunteers ripping up invasive plants, gardeners planting native flowers, and citizen scientists monitoring migration. Along with inspiring stories of revival and lessons from failed projects, readers will find practical tips to get involved. They will also be reminded of the magic of pollinators--not only the iconic monarch and dainty hummingbird, but the drab hawk moth and homely bats that are just as essential. Without pollinators, the world would be a duller, blander place. Helmer shows how we can make sure they are always fluttering, soaring, and buzzing around us.
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The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife
by Lawson, Nancy
In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.
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The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America
by Nordhaus, Hannah
Recounts the experiences of John Miller, one of the foremost migratory beekeepers, who, despite mysterious epidemics that threaten American honey populations--and the nation's agribusiness--forges on and moves ahead in a new natural world.
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Hummingbirds
by Orenstein, Ronald I; Fogden, Michael; Fogden, Patricia
A visual feast of beautiful images and a comprehensive natural history of a unique and remarkable bird family.
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A Spring Without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered our Food Supply
by Schacker, Michael
A century after the birth of Rachel Carson, the world faces a new environmental disaster, from a chemical similar to DDT. This time the culprit appears to be IMD, or imidacloprid, a relatively new but widely used insecticide in the United States. Many beekeepers and researchers blame IMD for Colony Collapse Disorder, which has wiped out 23% of America's beehives. Even trace amounts make bees unable to fly back to their hive. Since honeybees are essential to the production of most major food crops, their demise could spell catastrophe. In a riveting, scientific/political detective story, Michael Schacker examines the evidence and offers a plan to save the bees. Like An Inconvenient Truth and Silent Spring, A Spring without Bees is both a powerful cautionary tale and a call to action.
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The Last Monarch Butterfly: Conserving the Monarch Butterfly in a Brave New World
by Schappert, Phillip Joseph
Overview of both eastern and western monarch butterflies, including their life cycle and migratory patterns. The impact of natural disasters and increasing residential and industrial development on monarch butterfly populations is also discussed.
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The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees
by Wilson, Joseph S; Messinger Carril, Olivia
The Bees in Your Backyard provides an engaging introduction to the roughly 4,000 different bee species found in the United States and Canada, dispelling common myths about bees while offering essential tips for telling them apart in the field.The book features more than 900 stunning color photos of the bees living all around usin our gardens and parks, along nature trails, and in the wild spaces between. It describes their natural history, including where they live, how they gather food, their role as pollinators, and even how to attract them to your own backyard. Ideal for amateur naturalists and experts alike, it gives detailed accounts of every bee family and genus in North America, describing key identification features, distributions, diets, nesting habits, and more.Provides the most comprehensive and accessible guide to all bees in the United States and CanadaFeatures more than 900 full-color photosOffers helpful identification tips and pointers for studying beesIncludes a full chapter on how to attract bees to your backyard
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Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive
by Winston, Mark L
Being among bees is a full-body experience, Mark Winston writes. Bee Time presents his reflections on three decades spent studying these remarkable creatures, and on the lessons they can teach about how humans might better interact with one another and the natural world, from the boardroom to urban design to agricultural ecosystems.
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