Description
Book SynopsisBack from the Collapse covers the evolution, Euro-American-driven collapse, and large-scale restoration of Great Plains wildlife through efforts by the nonprofit organization American Prairie to assemble a protected area of 3.2 million acres on the plains of northeast Montana.
Trade Review"This book would be an excellent addition to courses in ecology, conservation, and natural resource management, and will also interest naturalists and professional land managers working and living in the region."—A. L. Mayer,
Choice"In
Back from the Collapse: American Prairie and the Restoration of Great Plains Wildlife, Freese convinces us that the reintroduction of wildlife in the Great Plains is necessary and good by giving us the history of our planet earth and the Great Plains, by describing a thriving ecosystem that was destroyed by hunting, ranching and farming, and by recounting American Prairie's restoration successes."—Natalia Nebel,
NewCity Lit“Grasslands are crucial to Earth’s biological diversity. North America once had a bounteous share. No one is better qualified to tell the story of such prairie ecosystems—the disruption of their dynamics, the collapse of their wildlife populations, and the vital possibility of saving and restoring them—than Curt Freese. This is an important, fascinating book.”—David Quammen, author of
The Tangled Tree and
Breathless“Curt Freese brings our nation’s ecologically rich but too-long-overlooked grasslands into sharp focus. He delivers a well-researched and approachably written account of the collapse of Great Plains wildlife populations and a challenge to readers—to envision the role that large protected areas can play in biodiversity conservation, especially in the face of climate change.”—Alison Piper Fox, chief executive officer of American Prairie
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
List of Maps
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part 1: History
Chapter 1: How It Started
Chapter 2: From Sea, Ice, and Forest Emerges a Prairie
Chapter 3: From the End of One Faunal Collapse to the Dawn of Another
Chapter 4: From Euro-American Settlement to Today
Part 2: Wildlife Collapses and Recoveries
Chapter 5: American Beaver and River Otter
Chapter 6: Ungulates
Chapter 7: Carnivores
Chapter 8: Rocky Mountain Locust
Chapter 9: Black-tailed Prairie Dog and Black-footed Ferret
Chapter 10: Pallid Sturgeon and Other Fish Stories
Chapter 11: Grassland Birds
Part 3: Conclusion
Chapter 12: Where We’ve Been and Where We Need to Go
Notes
Bibliography
Index
