Review by Choice Review
In this accessibly written introduction to US prairie management, Helzer (program director, Nature Conservancy, Eastern Nebraska Project Office) provides the level of detail that makes this work a useful, practical manual for nonspecialists such as landowners and prairie managers. The book contains two main sections. The first addresses tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie ecology and includes separate chapters on animal and plant communities. The second section, on management issues, discusses design principles, provides examples of prairie systems, and discusses wildlife and problems with invasive species. Related works include Grasslands of the World, edited by J. Suttie, S. Reynolds, and C. Batello (2005), which offers a more scholarly treatment on a global scale, and The National Grasslands, by F. Moul and G. Joutras (CH, Feb'07, 44-3285), which covers the history of western American grasslands and describes individual national grasslands sites. The volume's six appendixes provide a limited amount of cited literature, many attractive color photographs, and a weak, run-in style index. This book is useful for academic institutions with programs in prairie ecology and management and for public libraries within the historical range of tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies in North America. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries serving lower-division undergraduates, professionals/practitioners, and general readers. J. Cummings Washington State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
