Horticulture

Arboriculture -- the emphasis on keeping trees alive and healthy -- has emerged only recently as a profession; however, the practices in use today are the culmination of decades of development. The first book of its kind, Aboriculture: History and Development in North America chronicles a century of this "love of trees" view as it has developed into a viable profession.

Beginning with a discussion of the origins of planting, transplanting, and pruning, Richard Campana provides a breadth and depth of understanding of how arboriculture has become an important force in modern ecology. Specific topics discussed include: the introduction of woody plants to North America; botanical gardens and arboreta; gypsy moths; Dutch elm disease; the Davey, Bartlett, and Asplundh tree experts; herbicides, insecticides and fungicides; pruning; fertilization; wound treatment; and cabling, bracing, and lightning protection.

This unique history will be of interest to arborists, city foresters, landscape architects, nursery companies, contractors, park and city managers, superintendents of institutional grounds, educators, students, workers in land management, government and public utilities -- and anyone involved in the preservation of trees.

New species are discovered every day -- and cataloguing all of them has grown into a nearly insurmountable task world-wide. Now, this definitive reference manual acts as a style guide for writing and filing species descriptions. New collecting techniques and new technology have led to a dramatic increase in the number of species that are discovered. Explorations of unstudied regions and new habitats for almost any group of organisms can result in a large number of new species discoveries -- and hence the need to be described. Yet there is no one source a student or researcher can readily consult to learn the basic practical aspects of taxonomic procedures. Species description can present a variety of difficulties: Problems arise when new species are not given names because their discoverers do not know how to write a formal species description or when these species are poorly described. Biologists may also have to deal with nomenclatural problems created by previous workers or resulting from new information generated by their own research. This practical resource for scientists and students contains instructions and examples showing how to describe newly discovered species in both the animal and plant kingdoms. With special chapters on publishing taxonomic papers and on ecology in species description, as well as sections covering subspecies, genus-level, and higher taxa descriptions, Describing Species enhances any writer's taxonomic projects, reports, checklists, floras, faunal surveys, revisions, monographs, or guides. The volume is based on current versions of the International Codes of Zoological and Botanical Nomenclature and recognizes that systematics is a global and multicultural exercise. Though Describing Species has been written for an English-speaking audience, it is useful anywhere Taxonomy is spoken and will be a valuable tool for professionals and students in zoology, botany, ecology, paleontology, and other fields of biology.