Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World

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Library Journal (10/01/2008)
It has never been more important for us to understand natural systems than now, when the choices we make today will have an impact on generations to come. In this debut work, Seidl, who as a field scientist has observed firsthand the complex interrelationships among plants, animals, and their environment, provides scientific explanations of how living organisms have evolved to fill their special niches and their mechanisms for adapting as the environment changes with the domino effects of global warming, such as increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Writing in terms lay readers will understand, Seidl talks about the subtle changes occurring within her own backyard and community of Huntington, VT. Ice fishing tournaments, the ski industry, maple sugaring, and even people's expectations about what each season represents are being affected by shorter winters and earlier springs. Some of the unfortunate consequences are increased mosquito outbreaks, more flooding, a reduction in maple tree seedlings, and plants out of sync with their pollinators. Informative and hopeful, this book is highly recommended for both public and academic libraries.Maureen J. Delaney-Lehman, Lake Superior State Univ. Lib., Sault Ste. Marie, MI Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly (09/29/2008)
In this intimate reflection, Seidl, an ecologist, records her observations of life and ecology in the wooded Vermont hollow where she lives, depicting how human, animal and plant life is changing as the weather becomes warmer and less predictable. At Christmas, people are canoeing rather than skating; daffodils push through the ground in January; outbreaks of tent caterpillars, historically limited by winter deep freezes, stress the sugar bush. An ice-fishing derby is cancelled more times than it is run. They can't depend on the ice... to hold up. Seidl's tender descriptions of her young daughters' encounters with the natural worldskipping rocks, choosing Halloween pumpkins from the garden and gorging on the abundance of cherries picked off the treeadd personal poignancy to a subject few can stand to talk about at any length. Walking the woods with her husband and children on a Sunday morning, Seidl muses on the scale of life itself... its infinite unfolding, and how... present joy is a reflection of deep time, suggesting that, to avoid mass extinction, we evolve a new set of values... consonant with ecocentrism. "(Mar.)" Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

ISBN: 0807085847 | EAN: 9780807085844
Publisher: Beacon Press (MA)  | Publication Date: March, 2009

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