Comstock Publishing Associates imprint: 25 books
Citizen Science
Public Participation in Environmental Research
Language: English
Release Date: April 7, 2012
Citizen science enlists members of the public to make and record useful observations, such as counting birds in their backyards, watching for the first budding leaf in spring, or measuring local snowfall. The large numbers of volunteers who participate in projects such as Project FeederWatch or Project...
by Timothy J. Sullivan
Language: English
Release Date: October 5, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: October 5, 2015
Ecosystem effects from air pollution in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and elsewhere in New York have been substantial. Efforts to characterize and quantify these impacts, and to examine more recent recovery, have focused largely on surface waters, soils, and forests. Lakes, streams, and soils have acidified....
Walking Sideways
The Remarkable World of Crabs
Language: English
Release Date: December 15, 2009
The world's nearly 7,000 species of crabs are immediately recognizable by their claws, sideways movement, stalked eyes, and thick outer shells. These common crustaceans are found internationally, thriving in various habitats from the edge of the sea to the depths of the ocean, in fresh water or on...
Air Plants
Epiphytes and Aerial Gardens
Language: English
Release Date: December 15, 2009
Often growing far above the ground, "air plants" (or epiphytes) defy many of our common perceptions about plants. The majority use their roots only for attachment in the crowns of larger, usually woody plants—or to objects such as rocks and buildings—and derive moisture and nutrients from the...
One Billion Hungry
Can We Feed the World?
Language: English
Release Date: December 15, 2009
Hunger is a daily reality for a billion people. More than six decades after the technological discoveries that led to the Green Revolution aimed at ending world hunger, regular food shortages, malnutrition, and poverty still plague vast swaths of the world. And with increasing food prices, climate...
Bees
Their Vision, Chemical Senses, and Language
Language: English
Release Date: August 6, 2014
Over half a century of brilliant scientific detective work, the Nobel Prize-winning biologist Karl von Frisch learned how the world, looks, smells, and tastes to a bee. More significantly, he discovered their dance language and their ability to use the sun as a compass. Intended to serve as an accessible...
by Ronald Altig, Roy W. McDiarmid
Language: English
Release Date: May 21, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: May 21, 2015
Generously illustrated, this essential handbook for herpetologists, ecologists, and naturalists features comprehensive keys to eggs, embryos, salamander larvae, and tadpoles; species accounts; a glossary of terms; and an extensive bibliography. The taxonomic accounts include a summarization of the...
Snakes
Ecology and Conservation
Language: English
Release Date: December 15, 2009
Destruction of habitat due to urban sprawl, pollution, and deforestation has caused population declines or even extinction of many of the world's approximately 2,600 snake species. Furthermore, misconceptions about snakes have made them among the most persecuted of all animals, despite the fact that...
by Richard S. Vetter
Language: English
Release Date: May 7, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: May 7, 2015
The brown recluse is a fascinating spider very well adapted to dwelling in houses and other buildings. Because of this very quality and the ghastly reputation associated with the medical consequences of its bite, it has become infamous throughout North America. Although recluse spiders can cause serious...
Raptors
The Curious Nature of Diurnal Birds of Prey
Language: English
Release Date: May 2, 2017
Raptors are formally classified into five families and include birds—such as eagles, ospreys, kites, true hawks, buzzards, harriers, vultures, and falcons—that are familiar and recognized by many observers. These diurnal birds of prey are found on every continent except Antarctica and can thrive...
The Eye of the Sandpiper
Stories from the Living World
Language: English
Release Date: June 20, 2017
In The Eye of the Sandpiper, Brandon Keim pairs cutting-edge science with a deep love of nature, conveying his insights in prose that is both accessible and beautiful. In an elegant, thoughtful tour of nature in the twenty-first century, Keim continues in the tradition of Lewis Thomas, Stephen Jay...
Winter in the Wilderness
A Field Guide to Primitive Survival Skills
Language: English
Release Date: November 18, 2015
Camping or backpacking in winter is appealing for many who enjoy the serenity of wilderness settings without the crowds and bustle of the summer season. But as rewarding as they can be, these outings require special preparation and a different set of skills than are necessary at other times of the...
The Beaver
Natural History of a Wetlands Engineer
Language: English
Release Date: September 1, 2011
Beavers can and do dramatically change the landscape. The beaver is a keystone species—their skills as foresters and engineers create and maintain ponds and wetlands that increase biodiversity, purify water, and prevent large-scale flooding. Biologists have long studied their daily and seasonal...
This Luminous Coast
Walking England's Eastern Edge
Language: English
Release Date: June 4, 2015
Over the course of a year, Jules Pretty walked along the shoreline of East Anglia in southeastern England, eventually exploring four hundred miles on foot (and another hundred miles by boat). It is a coast and a culture that is about to be lost—not yet, perhaps, but soon—to rising tides and industrial...
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