検索キーワード： 自然・生態学

This is a major history of the Indian Ocean structured through twenty human enterprises/interactions that have taken place in this diverse environment – from the discovery of fossils hinting to older ages to diving for pearls, the trade of spices, the effects of pollution, the passage of enslaved people, the charting of maps and much more. Collectively they sketch out a comprehensive overview of this extraordinary human crossroads.

Before skyscrapers and smokestacks rose across the eastern U.S., elk, bison, wolves, and cougars roamed. Typically imagined as icons of the West, these large mammals are in fact native to what was once a kind of Eden—towering forests in the Northeast, rolling prairies in the Midwest, and cypress swamps in the Deep South. But, in mere decades, industrialization and unregulated hunting brought these emblems of the East to the precipice of extinction; by the 1950s, squirrels were one of the few wild mammals an easterner was likely to encounter.

A feedback loop occurs when the outcome of a process restarts that process, creating a cyclical chain of cause and effect. Feedback loops can either maintain the status quo (a negative feedback loop), or they can create a “snowball effect” (a positive feedback loop) where more begets more. These feedback loops have been with us since the beginning of time, and they are implicit in the formation of everything that exists in the universe.

The Story of Birds has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

You’ve heard of a murder of crows and a pride of lions—but what about a romp of otters? In this informative and entertaining book, animal behaviorist Heide Island takes readers on an odyssey through otterdom, focusing on a family, or “romp,” of river otters that live near her home in Puget Sound while also weaving in research about otters around the globe. Tracking an otter nicknamed Patches and her three pups, Island observes as they hunt, play, and try to survive the various dangers in their environment.

Humans have long decorated their landscapes, but chalk hill figures are, almost uniquely, a feature of the English downland. This means they are sometimes seen as emblematic of Englishness, celebrated by poets, writers, artists and musicians. The book is a portrait of the places where these figures dominate, bringing in history, politics, literature, music, film and TV, but with a light touch. The Tattooed Hills isn’t a nostalgic elegy for England, instead it uses the figures as a lens through which to explore the land and delves into more troubling undercurrents.

Eco Revolution is a humanized and eye-opening journey through the past, present, and future of one of the most crucial topics of our time: Climate change. This book chronicles untold sustainability history, highlights the stories of unsung eco-warrior heroes, and shares solutions for a more sustainable and equitable world, as told through the lens of award-winning environmental activist Maya Penn’s unique and inspiring experience as a young black woman and member of Generation Z.

In 1959, at just twenty-six years old, the biologist George B. Schaller shrugged off warnings of mortal danger and set off for the Belgian Congo to do what his peers wouldn’t dare: conduct the first sustained field study of mountain gorillas by living alongside them. Boldly refusing arms and retinue, Schaller and his wife, Kay, established a home in the jungle and came to share the apes’ rhythms and rules.

Antarctica is a land of extremes. It is the coldest, windiest and most inaccessible part of our planet—and now one of the places most affected by climate change. In this moving and personal narrative, conservation biologist Louise K. Blight recounts her summer studying Adélie penguins with one of the world’s great Antarctic scientists.

The Dene in Canada’s Northwest Territories have lived alongside nature for many generations. From battling environmental racism on the front lines of historical environmental protests, to innovating sustainable resources, to living a balanced life through effective individual and collective governance, the Dene have long protected Mother Earth from destruction through their intricate knowledge systems, natural laws, and age-old principles.

One day, on a whim, Robert Moor set out to climb a tree near his home—unwittingly embarking on what would become a decade-long, globe-spanning adventure of intellectual and spiritual transformation. Pursuing the hidden wisdom of trees, he scales to the very top of a giant sequoia while filming a nature documentary with David Attenborough; he treks through swamps in Papua to reach a treehouse-dwelling tribe of hunter-gatherers; and he journeys to a remote research camp in Tanzania, where he spends a memorable night sleeping in a chimpanzee nest, seeking to understand our evolutionary history.

Delivered in his raw and unapologetic yet botanically accurate tone, Joey Santore—the unforgettable host of Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t—offers an often unsettling view of human-caused ecological destruction and its impact on the natural ecosystems our very lives depend on. The choices of modern civilization have led to a f***ed-up planet, scraped bare and covered in concrete and invasive species.

Marine microbiologist and deep sea explorer Jeff Marlow offers a new perspective on the power and beauty of the deep sea. Beginning with the nineteenth century “discovery” that the deep sea was, in fact, teeming with life, to more recent investigations into the microbiology of cold seeps and deep sea vents. Throughout, Marlow explores the ocean’s scientific marvels: theories about how life began underwater and how it may hold the key to discovering new life to entire ecosystems that formed around sunk whale carcasses.

For as long as there have been humans, there have been humans trying to catch fish. The two species—fish and man—live in constant tension. One chases the other. One tries to get away. Some of us—author Mark Kurlansky included—are hard-wired for that chase. Guiding readers through the waters and into the mind of the fish, Kurlansky considers who fish are and why they behave the way they do, and along the way delves into the many approaches to catching a fish, their ecology, and the ins and outs of cooking and eating your catch.

With her bestselling book Finding the Mother Tree, forest ecologist Suzanne Simard advanced a revelatory new paradigm for the profound intelligence and interconnectedness of trees. Now, with When the Forest Breathes, she uncovers the ways that nature’s deep-rooted cycles of renewal can ensure the longevity of threatened ecosystems.

Without flowers, human beings would not exist. We are a floral species, dependent on flowers for food and our habitats, as well as using flowers for beauty, scent, and culturally important rituals. Looking to the future, flowers offer us lessons on resilience and creativity in the face of rapid environmental change. How Flowers Made Our World combines lyrical writing, sensual exploration, and scientific expertise to explore some of the most consequential life forms ever to have evolved, showing how our planet came to be and how it thrives today.

The Argentine pampas and the little-known Chaco territory of Paraguay provide the setting for The Drunken Forest. With Gerald Durrell for interpreter, an orange armadillo or a horned toad, or a crab-eating raccoon suddenly discovers the ability not merely to set you laughing but also to endear itself to you. Gerald Durrell's adventurous spirit and his spontaneous gift for narrative and anecdote stand out in his accounts of expeditions in Africa and South America in search of rare animals.

A mind-expanding deep dive into how animals have shaped us, from the Paleolithic to the present day. In Animate, science writer Michael Bond explores how animals have profoundly influenced our minds and cultures. Drawing on cutting-edge insights from psychology, anthropology, literature and neuroscience, Bond traces the varied ways their lives have affected ours, from our hunter-gatherer ancestors whose brains were rewired by the prey they hunted and the predators they feared, to the medieval and Enlightenment thinkers who used animals to promote notions of human supremacy.

Composting is so much more than just transforming food into soil; it is deeply existential, radical, and soul-opening. And no, it's not just for gardeners. You can compost in a bowl on your kitchen counter, or a bag under your sink, and you can compost things you're told you can't (although there are some things you probably shouldn't). Everyone can compost. And even if you're not going to compost at all, knowing about compost is engaging with a dialogue about zero waste.

In this time of political fragility, climate chaos, and seeking hope wherever we can find its glimmer, Terry Tempest Williams introduces us to the Glorians. They are not distant deities, but the ordinary, often overlooked presences—animal, plant, memory, moment—that reveal our shared vulnerability and interconnectedness with the natural world. The Glorians can be as small as an ant ferrying a coyote willow blossom to its queen or as commonplace as the night sky.