Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest - Hardcover

Earley, Lawrence S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807828866 ISBN 13: 9780807828861

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr, 2004

Synopsis

The history of the longleaf pine ecosystem of the southern United States, one of the most extensive and diverse ecosystems in North America, is explored in a study that demonstrates how ecologists have struggled to understand the longleaf and halt its decline.

About this title

About the Author

Lawrence S. Earley, former editor of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine, is a writer and photographer living in Raleigh, North Carolina.

From the Inside Flap

Longleaf pine once flourished across the South in park-like forests of astonishing beauty and diversity--the most extensive forest ecosystem in North America. Much of the region's history is connected to these trees, which were exploited for agriculture, pasturage, timber, and naval stores. Today longleaf pine forests are recognized as one of the world's most endangered ecosystems. This book blends human and natural history to reveal the compelling story of these magnificent trees and also addresses current conservation and restoration efforts.

Reviews

The longleaf pine once comprised the largest ecosystem in North America, extending from Texas to Virginia and south to Florida. The forest was so vast that one early traveler, finding the landscape monotonous, summarized the woodlands as "entirely too immense." Part of the geographic success of the pine resided in its flammable resins; seasonal fires triggered seed production of the longleaf and its plant associates, enabling them to propagate over wide areas. These same resins, however, led to the forest's downfall, because they were sought-after ingredients in the manufacture of tar and turpentine. Out of the original 92 million acres of longleaf, fewer than 3 million remain. Recently, however, collaborations between ecologists and foresters have brought new hope to the beleaguered ecosystem, and painstaking effort may bring back not only the longleaf but also the forest-dwelling gopher tortoise and the red-cockaded woodpecker. Earley's enthusiasm for the forest's restoration doesn't quite make up for his uninspired prose, but green-minded readers will be drawn to this ode to the piney woods. Rebecca Maksel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807828866
• ISBN 13: 9780807828861
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 322