Nevada's Changing Wildlife Habitat

by Gruell, George E.; Swanson, Sherman (CON)

• ISBN13: 9780874178715
• ISBN10: 0874178711
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-03-28
• Publisher: Univ of Nevada Pr

Summary

For millennia the ecology of the Great Basin has evolved because of climate change and the impacts of human presence. Nevada's Changing Wildlife Habitatis the first book to explain the transformations in the plants and animals of this region over time and how they came about. Using data gleaned from archaeological and anthropological studies, numerous historical documents, repeat photography, and several natural sciences, the authors examine changes in vegetation and their impact on wildlife species and the general health of the environment. They also outline the choices that current users and managers of rangelands face in being good stewards of this harsh but fragile environment and its wildlife.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Climate Changes and Consequences
The Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs: Prehuman Context	p. 3
The First People: Hunters and Gatherers	p. 8
Presettlement
Fire: A Natural Disturbance and Human Tool	p. 19
Vegetation: A Sea of Sagebrush or Landscape of Great Variety	p. 26
Wildlife: Abundance and Scarcity	p. 35
Postsettlement
Climate: Averages and Extremes	p. 49
Woodcutting: Boomtowns before Fossil Fuels	p. 54
Livestock Grazing: Herbivory and Range Depletion	p. 57
Fire: A Changing Force on the Landscape	p. 67
Changes on the Landscape
Vegetation: Resilience and Succession Meet Abuse and Decadence	p. 77
Wildlife: Habitat Relationships	p. 102
Management Choices: We Cannot Do Nothing	p. 121
Chronology of Changes in Vegetation, Fire, and Wildlife	p. 131
Nevada's Wildland Plants	p. 133
Notes	p. 137
Bibliography	p. 155
Index	p. 169
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