Review by Choice Review
Prairies are characterized by deep, fertile soils. According to North American Terrestrial Vegetation, edited by M. Barbour and W. Billings (2nd ed., CH, Jul'00, 37-6267), prairies constitute some 90 percent of the grasslands in the contiguous US and involve six types: tallgrass, 19 percent; mixed-grass, 19 percent; shortgrass, 21 percent; Palouse, 22 percent; and small percentages of coastal (California) and fescue grasses. Tallgrass prairie is the easternmost and is the most impacted, with less than three percent remaining.Smith (founding director, Tallgrass Prairie Center; biology and science education, Univ. of Northern Iowa) and colleagues offer a valuable guide to the restoration ("the process of enhancing prairie of degraded sites with relict prairie plants") and reconstruction ("prairie establishment on sites with no residual prairie species") of tallgrass prairie in the upper Midwest, an area involving all of Iowa, the contiguous parts of the seven adjacent states, plus northwestern Indiana. Sixteen chapters in five topic areas ("Reconstruction Planning," "Implementing Reconstruction," "Prairie Restoration and Management," "Special Cases," "Native Seed Production") detail techniques and policies. Unfortunately, these have limited application to nearby tallgrass prairie because of differences in species composition, climate, and soils. The book ends with an 8-page unillustrated glossary, an 11-page concordance of common-Latin and Latin-common names (the text uses common names), a 9-page bibliography, and a 7-page index. The 19 color photos in the central fascicle of 16 unnumbered plates are of excellent quality. In contrast, many of the 78 black-and-white text photos are poorly reproduced. The book also includes 4 black-and-white drawings, 2 black-and-white maps, and 25 tables.Much of the process of prairie restoration involves seed and seedlings, namely, seed selection, seeding, management of seedlings and weeds, and harvesting and production of seed. Consequently, the companion volume on "seed and seedling identification" by botanist Williams (program manager, Prairie Institute at the Tallgrass Prairie Center, Univ. of Northern Iowa) is especially apropos. The guide sports 329 excellent color photos by Brent Butler, 43 simple but diagnostic black-and-white drawings, and 1 color map. The book identifies 72 species: 58 forb species via a key to seven groups and 14 grass species via a key to four groups. Photos, diagrams, and descriptions allow further identification within a group. Summing Up: Recommended. Both books. Libraries, especially regional collections, serving upper-division undergraduates through professionals and two-year technical program students. R. Schmid emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
