Ecoblitz
Description
A short hike through an Indiana forest reveals layers of living things: the overstories and understories of trees, the shadow of a mammal, colorful fungi. But what would it mean to methodically document the communities of plants and animals harboring in Indiana's public forests, at humid midnight or coldest dawn? What is the impact of this wondrous knowledge?
Ecoblitz describes the findings of, and the dogged scientists behind, the Indiana Forest Alliance's multiyear forest wildlife census. Scientists' journeys in pursuit of elusive bats, lavish lichen, and spider species paint a breathtaking picture of Indiana's biodiversity and its value to Indiana's policy, polity, and poetics. This book will amaze readers with a dazzling portrait of local biodiversity, deepen appreciation for Indiana's eastern hardwood forest system, and inspire a desire to advocate for it.
Ecoblitz is a book for lovers of nature, for those who appreciate science but are not scientists themselves, and for those who want to learn something new.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
The Indiana Forest Alliance is a nonprofit with a mission to preserve and restore Indiana's native hardwood forest ecosystem for the enjoyment of all. The lead writer for the project is Anne Laker, former communications director at IFA. Anne has written newsletters and press releases about the IFA's wildlife inventory work. She's covered environmental policy for Howey Politics Indiana and is a published poet with an MA in English from IUPUI.
Content
Foreword, by John Bacone
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Toward a Legible Forest, by Anne Laker
Introduction, by Jeff Stant
Part I: Forest as Superorganism by Emma Steele
1. Profile: Leslie Bishop, Ph.D.: Prismatic Forest, Prismatic Ecologist, by Anne Laker
2. Essay: Standing Sentinels: Observations on the Art of Tree Dating, by Justin Maxwell
3. Profile: Paul Rothrock, Ph.D.: Finding Floristic Quality, by Anne Laker
4. Q & A: Linda Cole: The Forest Within the Forest, by Anne Laker
Part II: Complex Cooperators by Emma Steele
5. Essay: Identifying Back Country Area Fungi: A Baseline for Healthy Forests, by Stephen Russell
6. Profile: James Lendemer, Ph.D.: Learning the Lessons of Lichens, by Anne Laker
Part III: Forest as Haven by Emma Steele
7. Essay: Letters from the Back Country: An Amateur's Passion, by Karen Smith
8. Essay: Rare Cerulean Warblers Raise Young along Honey Creek, by David Rupp
9. Up Close: Angie Dämm: Young Birder in an Old Forest, by Emma Steele
10. Q & A: Dale Sparks, Ph.D.: Chasing Bats in the BCA, by Emma Steele
11. Up Close: Samantha Buran: Of Plants and People, by Emma Steele
Part IV: Insect Multitudes by Emma Steele
12. Profile: Glené Mynhardt, Ph.D.: Endless Entomology, by Anne Laker
13. Q&A: Robert Jean, Ph.D.: The Fellowship of the Bee, by Emma Steele
14. Up Close: Carl A. Strang, Ph.D.: Psalm of the Cricket, by Emma Steele
15. Up Close: Butterflies: How to Starve a Species, by Emma Steele
16. Profile: Leroy Koehn: The Life and Legacy of a Lepidopterist, by Anne Laker
Part V: Forest as Spectacle by Emma Steele
17. Profile: Robert Brodman, Ph.D.: Endless Questions in a Field Biologist's Research Lab, by Deidre Pettinga
18. Up Close: Roger Carter and Jim Horton: Musings on Hoosier Herpetology, by Emma Steele
19. Essay: New Forest Spiders, for the Record, by Leslie Bishop
20. Up Close: Ecoblitz Aquatic Team: Waters of Naiads, by Emma Steele
21. Profile: Dr. John O. Whitaker: The Dean of Indiana Mammalogy, by Anne Laker
Afterword: Full Circle, by Rae Schnapp
Appendix 1: Complete Species List
Appendix 2: Ecoblitz Participants
Index
