A Naturalist's Guide to Plant Communities of Pacific Northwest Dune Forests and Wetlands

About this book

Beyond the sand dunes of the Pacific Northwest coast are areas of superb evergreen dune forests with interspersed wetlands (ponds, lakes, bogs, marshes). These forest and wetland habitats contain distinctive keystone plant species that provide food and shelter for an associated range of other life forms, such as fungi, insect herbivores, pollinators and vertebrates. This book serves as a companion field guide that explores the ecology of these various plant communities, illustrating the various life forms with over 500 colour photographs taken by the author.

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Biography

George Poinar, Jr. has visited dune habitats around the world, beginning with his early years examining the plants along the Massachusetts seashore. He began his Pacific coast dune studies in Southern California in 1962 when working at the University of California, Riverside. In 1965, a move to UC Berkeley allowed him to research the northern California dune forests and wetlands. In 1995, when Poinar retired to Oregon, it provided an opportunity to study plant communities in dune forests and wetlands of Oregon and Washington. During the course of his studies, he has contacted numerous specialists (listed in the acknowledgments) for assistance in identifying the various encountered life forms.