Thorough, detailed, and scientifically up-to-date, Prairies: A Natural History provides a comprehensive nontechnical guide to the biology and ecology of the prairies, or the Great Plains grasslands of North America, offering a view of the past, a vision for the future, and a clear focus on the present. With a total area of more than 3.5 million square kilometers (500,000 in Canada and the remainder in the United States), the prairies occupy the heartland...

Discusses the nature, uses, and importance of soil and the many forms of life that it supports.

Introduces the animal and plant life in and around ponds.

A simple introduction to the plants and animals that live in swamps.

Introduces the different plants growing in forests, deserts, mountaintops, tundra, and everywhere in between, from tiny mosses to towering conifers.

Explores the desert ecology, discusses how some are formed, and explains how people, animals, and plants survive there.

Learn about tundra ecosystems.