Keeping All the Pieces

by Gibbons, J. Whitfield; Gibbons, Whit

• ISBN13: 9781560982241
• ISBN10: 1560982241
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-09-01
• Publisher: Smithsonian Inst Pr

Summary

With the background of a scholar and the enthusiasm of a child, Gibbons explores the many pieces that support our environment such as caterpillar disguises, the origins of tumbleweeds, and fish that produce their own antifreeze. With compelling anecdotes and witty narrative, he celebrates the beauty of biodiversity and laments those that have become extinct.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Eugene Odom
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgments	xvii
Prologue: A World without Wildlife	1	(4)
PART ONE The Natural Complexity of Species and Their Relationships	5	(42)
The Primrose Path of Ecology	7	(8)
Disguises of a Caterpillar	15	(10)
The Advantage of Being a Cold Fish	25	(11)
Why You Need a Rhinoceros If You Own a Trewia Tree	36	(11)
PART TWO Endangered and Threatened Species: The Specter of Extinction	47	(48)
Nowadays, Extinction Is Usually an Unnatural Act	49	(10)
Birds and the Ecovoid	59	(9)
Where Have All the Panthers Gone?	68	(11)
Don't Tread on Me	79	(10)
And the Good News Is Franklinia	89	(6)
PART THREE The Search for Environmental Culprits	95	(34)
We Probably Killed the Last Mammoth, and the Tigers Better Watch Out	97	(7)
Most People's Attitude: We Have Met the Environmental Enemy, and He Is Them, Not Us	104	(10)
The Riddle of Reelfoot Lake	114	(9)
Add People, Subtract Wildlife	123	(6)
PART FOUR Curbing Environmental Destruction	129	(44)
What Can an Individual Do?	131	(9)
Choosing an Environmental Organization	140	(10)
Biotechnology: A Cure or a Band-Aid?	150	(11)
Ecology Starts at Home	161	(8)
It's Time for an Environmental Attitude Adjustment	169	(4)
Epilogue: The Way the World Could Be	173	(4)
Index	177