Best Selling Books by Edward O Wilson

Southern Wonder explores Alabama’s amazing biological diversity, the reasons for the large number of species in the state, and the importance of their preservation. Alabama ranks fifth in the nation in number of species of plants and animals found in the state, surpassed only by the much larger western states of California,Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. When all the species of birds, trees, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, wildflowers, dragonflies, tiger beetles, and ants are tallied, Alabama harbors more species than 90 percent of the other states in the United States. Alabamais particularly rich in aquatic biodiversity, leading the nation in species of freshwater fishes, turtles, mussels, crayfish, snails, damselflies, and carnivorous plants. The state also hosts an exceptional number of endemic species—those not found beyond its borders—ranking seventh in the nation with 144 species. The state’s 4,533 species, with more being inventoried and discovered each year, are supported by no less than 64 distinct ecological systems—each a unique blend of soil, water, sunlight, heat, and natural disturbance regimes. Habitats include dry forests, moist forests, swamp forests, sunny prairies, grassy barrens, scorching glades, rolling dunes, and bogs filled with pitcher plants and sundews. The state also includes a region of subterranean ecosystems that are more elaborate and species rich than any other place on the continent. Although Alabama is teeming with life, the state’s prominence as a refuge for plants and animals is poorly appreciated. Even among Alabama’s citizens, few outside a small circle of biologists, advocates, and other naturalists understand the special quality of the state’s natural heritage. R. Scot Duncan rectifies this situation in Southern Wonder by providing a well-written, comprehensive overview that the general public, policy makers, and teachers can understand and use. Readers are taken on an exploratory journey of the state’s varied landscapes—from the Tennessee River Valley to the coastal dunes—and are introduced to remarkable species, such as the cave salamander and the beach mouse. By interweaving the disciplines of ecology, evolution, meteorology, and geology into an accessible whole, Duncan explains clearly why Alabama is so biotically rich and champions efforts for its careful preservation. Published in Cooperation with The Nature Conservancy

A landmark collected edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and world-renowned biologist, illuminating the marvels of biodiversity in a time of climate crisis and mass extinction. Library of America presents three environmental classics from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner E. O. Wilson, a masterful writer-scientist whose graceful prose is equal to his groundbreaking discoveries. These books illuminate the evolution and complex beauty of our imperiled ecosystems and the flora, fauna, and civilization they sustain, even as they reveal the personal evolution of one of the greatest scientific minds of our age. Here are the lyrical, thought-provoking essays of Biophilia, a field biologist''s reflections on the manifold meanings of wilderness. Here too is his magisterial, dazzlingly informative Diversity of Life: a sweeping tour of global biodiversity and a prophetic call to preserve the planet, filled on every page with little-known creatures, unique habitats, and fascinating ecological detail. Also included is Wilson''s moving autobiography, Naturalist. Following him from his outdoor boyhood in Alabama and the Florida panhandle to the rainforests of Surinam and New Guinea--from his first discoveries as a young ant specialist to his emergence as a champion of conservation and rewilding--it rounds out a collection that will inspire wonder, curiosity, and love for a natural world now rapidly disappearing. Thirty-two pages of photographs and numerous illustrations accompany these works, which are introduced by David Quammen, one of America''s leading science and nature writers.

From this historic collaboration between a beloved naturalist and a great American photographer emerges a South we’ve never encountered before. Entranced by Edward O. Wilson’s mesmerizing evocation of his Southern childhood in The Naturalist and Anthill, Alex Harris approached the scientist about collaborating on a book about Wilson’s native world of Mobile, Alabama. Perceiving that Mobile was a city small enough to be captured through a lens yet old enough to have experienced a full epic cycle of tragedy and rebirth, the photographer and the naturalist joined forces to capture the rhythms of this storied Alabama Gulf region through a swirling tango of lyrical words and breathtaking images. With Wilson tracing his family’s history from the Civil War through the Depression—when mule-driven wagons still clogged the roads—to Mobile’s racial and environmental struggles to its cultural triumphs today, and with Harris stunningly capturing the mood of a radically transformed city that has adapted to the twenty-first century, the book becomes a universal story, one that tells us where we all come from and why we are here.

The Golden doodle is a "designer dog," a hybrid dog breed because of mixing the Poodle with the Golden Retriever. Like every other designer "breeds," this Doodle is not truly a breed of its own, however is a crossbreed - and in this example, a move this is taking part in developing reputation.GET YOUR COPY NOW!

The imported fire ant, Solenopsis saevissima richteri Forel, is the southernmost race of a widespread and highly variable South American ant. It was introduced into the port of Mobile, Alabama, sometime around 1918 and by 1949 had spread to parts of Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 2. A great deal of color variation from nest to nest has been noted in the Gulf States population. This includes an extreme blackish phase referable to the original description of richteri, an extreme reddish phase referable to no described form, and intermediates between the two. This color variation is correlated with differences in size of the ants and in appearance and proportion of their nests. 3. The variation has a genetic basis. It is suggested in this study that the variation can be explained most readily on the basis of multiple pleiotropic alleles. 4. The history of the variation has been determined as follows: The darkest forms, or richteri s. str., were the ones originally dominant from the time of the ant''s introduction until at least 1929 and probably sometime after 1932. The origin of the new form is not known, although it is believed that it originated either through mutation within the population or through a second introduction. IN 1949 it was by far the dominant form. It had apparently replaced the typical richteri partly by rapid expansion and subsequent genetic dilution and partly through natural selection by direct competition. Its predominance in the main population and in at least two smaller isolated populations has evidently been responsible for a much greater success of the species. In the main population in 1949 the typical richteri was mostly limited in distribution to portions of the periphery of the range, forming with the new form roughly the concentric pattern of Matthew''s modified Age-and-Area hypothesis. 5. The new form has been interpreted as functioning, regardless of its origin, as a favorable mutation introduced into the population. Its rise to dominance has constituted an extremely rapid, nearly vertical evolutionary change.