Guide to Identification and the Impacts and Control of Common North American Species
Sylvan Ramsey Kaufman & Wallace Kaufman
The only good news about invasive and alien species is that they are indeed uniters, a common enemy that people who often find themselves warring on one issue, join together to fight invading plants. Alien invasions bring economic disaster, threaten food supplies and destroy natural ecosystems. This guide is designed to help anyone learn to spot, and hopefully help eradicate invasive plants that may encounter. This guide includes keys to help narrow down identification, chapters introducing the topic of invasives, how they are changing wild America, managing invasives and the field guide. The species account includes basic natural history and identification features, habitat and range, what it does in the ecosystem, how it came to North America, and management. This is an essential addition for anyone involved in landscaping, habitat management, and other environmental issues.
From the publisher: “• Identifying and understanding the plants that are changing the North American landscape forever
• Full-color photographs make identification simple
An easy-to-use, wide-ranging guide to invasive plants in North America. Features full-color photos and descriptions of some 175 alien species—both terrestrial and aquatic—that are in some cases changing the landscape to an almost unimaginable degree. Accompanying text describes the plant's environmental and economic impacts as well as management techniques used to control it. Also includes an explanation of what an invasive is and a step-by-step identification key. An essential guide to understanding this unprecedented environmental challenge.
About the authors: Sylvan Ramsey Kaufman is conservation curator at the Adkins Arboretum in Ridgely, Maryland, and a specialist on invasive plants.
Wallace Kaufman is a science writer and author of several popular nature books, including Coming Out of the Woods, No Turning Back, and The Beaches Are Moving.
Paper, 458 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 ¼ inches, full-color photographs, May 2007
