The Nature of Nebraska

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The Nature of Nebraska

Ecology and Biodiversity

Paul A. Johnsgard

402 pages
Illus., maps

Paperback

April 2005

978-0-8032-7621-5

$30.00 Add to Cart
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About the Book

Where the eastern and western currents of American life merge as smoothly as one river flows into another is a place called Nebraska. There we find the Platte, a river that gave sustenance to the countless migrants who once trudged westward along the Mormon and Oregon trails. We find the Sandhills, a vast region of sandy grassland that represents the largest area of dunes and the grandest and least disturbed region of mixed-grass prairies in all the Western Hemisphere. And, below it all, we find the Ogallala aquifer, the largest potential source of unpolluted water anywhere.
 
These ecological treasures are all part of the nature of Nebraska. With characteristic clarity, energy, and charm, Paul A. Johnsgard guides us through Nebraska’s incredible biodiversity, introducing us to each ecosystem and the flora and fauna it sustains and inviting us to contemplate the purpose and secrets of the natural world as we consider our own roles and responsibilities in our connection with it.

Author Bio

Paul A. Johnsgard is Foundation Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and winner of several state and national writing awards for his books. He is the author of more than forty books, including Prairie Dog Empire: A Saga of the Shortgrass Prairie, Crane Music: A Natural History of American Cranes, and This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills, all available from the University of Nebraska Press.

Awards

Paul Johngard is the winner of the 2004 National Conservation Achievement Award and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award (2001), both sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation

2002 Nebraska Book Award, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, honor book

Also of Interest

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