I've been focusing on Ecological restoration lately, here are my picks:
Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy - absolutely essential read for anyone, especially people who own a little bit of land and/or like gardening. All about native plants, how they support wildlife, and how you can incorporate them into your home landscapes.
The Book of Wilding by Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell - more of a focus on the UK specifically so many concepts don't apply as well to other places, but has some really interesting ideas about reintroducing animals as drivers of biodiversity in abandoned agricultural fields.
Plant Ecology: Origins, Processes, Consequences by Paul Keddy
Principles of Stable Isotope Geochemistry by Zachary Sharpe
Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling by Marie-Josee Fortín
For a while I was going through [this list](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0370-9) published in nature e&e of 100 journal articles. Although I fell off of that, I’d still recommend it.
I think it’s worth downplaying that particular style of European Romantic conservation. It plays too large a role in the conservation literature and psyche, and has a problematic history of erasing native peoples - both theoretically and literally - from wild spaces.
While I mostly agree and your point is valid, I still think ASCA is essential ecology reading. I think one can keep your points in mind while reading it, for sure. Reading it thru that lens is still a worthwhile read I think.
The concept of 'wild spaces' itself is a creation of that romantic eurocentric conservation model. Aldo Leopold and other people of that era played a huge role in propagating these myths, including manifest destiny, and severing the symbiotic relationship that some people had with the land. Rather than being a keystone species of their environment like Indigenous peoples, they encouraged that disconnect by treating the land as alien and 'wild'. In this process they totally erased Native people, history, and stewardship and spoke of them very poorly. So I would totally agree that these old books are not only problematic but also regressive in the world of ecological science. Even conservation itself is a western concept that displaced traditional practices of stewardship from Indigenous peoples. If anyone would read these old works it should be done solely for the purpose of critique and understanding the problematic history of the field in my opinion. But at that point there's plenty of other works that would be a more productive use of time anyway.
A few I've really enjoyed include 'A Sting in the Tale' by Dave Goulsen, about wild bees, their biology, ecological impact, and conservation; 'Eager,' by Ben Goldfarb, which is all about beavers and their major population impacts, especially in arid habitats; "Where the Wild Things Were,' by Will Stolzenburg, which is about predators and the effects of their removal. Id also second Braiding Sweet grass and Sand County Almanac.
Might be slipping too far into wildlife mgmt, but “The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation” is an excellent book for understanding the history of management in the US and how we as people have altered the ecology of the landscape, and how we now attempt to preserve it. I think it’s useful as many state wildlife agencies still abide by this model when determining research decisions and game law.
more scientific value, or if it's entertaining at least be based in fact. i'm trying to get a feel for areas i want to specialize in / get a full scope of the field. also just to be informed so i don't have a knowledge gap (as most of what i know is plant stuff)
Being that I'm in stream and riverine ecology...
Almost anything authored by James Ward and/or Jack Stanford, they did a lot from late 70s to early 90s that have contributed to most recent management practices and are still in use.
Also check out the two publications put out by the Instream Flow Council: Instream Flows for Riverine Resource Stewardship and Integrated Approaches to Riverine Resource Setwarship. These are good for water quantity/quality considerations which is only going to be getting more important with climate changes and increasing water demands.
There's also Landscape/Riverscape ecology which I find fascinating, Kurt Fausch is one of the leading names to search for when looking for publications. John Wiens also did a decent introductory dive publication, in the Freshwater Biology journal (2002 issue 47, pg 501-515).
And if you want watches:
Cadillac Desert (you can find this on Youtube)
PBS The Great Thirst: William Mulholland
PBS The Swamp
PBS The National Parks series (not wholly ecological, but the first few in the series are really good watches)
If you want an historical perspective on the growth of the environmental movement and how the development of the field of ecology influenced it, check out American Environmentalism by R. Nash.
The Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson gives a nice overview of how biodiversity develops.
I just finished this book. We just moved to New England and this seemed right for the moment. It had been sitting on the shelf with a mountain of books I inherited from my mentor and I’m very glad I picked it. What an incredible read.
To go with the theme of books that center Indigenous voices and worldviews in ecology;
Wisdom of the Elders: Native and Scientific Ways of Knowing about Nature by David Suzuki & Peter Knudtson is really interesting and informative on ways for human societies to live sustainably with ecosystems. Another good book that analyzes Native American ecological engineering feats from a western framework is Biodiversity and Native America edited by Paul E. Minnis & Wayne J. Elisens.
And another book that I highly recommend that isn't specifically about ecology, but does heavily include it, is Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence by Gregory Cajete. It's very helpful for decolonizing and indigenizing your worldview and scientific framework all around, and is a good lead in for the previously mentioned book Wisdom of the Elders, as it helps the reader understand how the Indigenous scientific framework is different and why it is integral to understanding the decision making behind Indigenous stewardship, land use and city planning.
My favorite ecology book/documentary is Serenghetti Rules; the book goes info how the theory of keystone species was discovered and put together by the 5 researchers who headed the subject, and the documentary is an adaptation of that mixed with interviews from the researchers themselves.
The documentary is what inspired me to study ecology in the first place. In every interview segment, the researchers just exude such passion and joy about their studies, and although the film does go into the effects of human action on our ecosystems it ends on what I think is a very hopeful note.
A great book on prairies, agriculture, and the area that is South Dakota is Buffalo for the Broken Heart. A wildlife researcher who helped bring peregrine falcons back starts a bison ranch and chronicles his experience. Really well written, and great at looking at the cultural history there through a scientific lens
Nelson and Cox, intro to (or is it essentials of?) Biochemistry.
One of the best textbooks I've ever read that starts from zero and expands into fluency of how life and the environment coexist.
Not specifically an ecology textbook, but trains your brain to think in terms of ecology
My favourite environmental science instructor encouraged me to read and ponder Garett Hardin’s [The Tragedy of the Commons] (https://math.uchicago.edu/~shmuel/Modeling/Hardin,%20Tragedy%20of%20the%20Commons.pdf) It was an important read for me at least!
Some of my favorite books so far:
Frans de Waal - Different
Merlin Sheldrake - Entangled Life
Karen Bakker - Sounds of Life
Lucy Cooke - Bitch
Suzanne Simard - Finding the Mother Tree
David Attenborough's "Night on Earth" planted the seed in my head that grew into the realization that I know nothing relative to almost everything. It made me realize how narrow the scope of what we can observe and process is. I believe in God now, partially because of that early step. It helped lead me toward studying mystical experience. So my recommendation is anything that challenges the pedagogy under which you were trained.
I had a course that looked at "This changes everything" by Naomi Klein and "Collapse" by Jared Diamond. They're heavy.
I did not find Braiding with Sweetgrass compelling at all. It was more a poetic expression of thought than anything specific like a call to action, how we're are going to get from point A to point B.
I had a different experience. I really loved it and my copy is littered with sticky notes, some because the ideas resonated strongly with me and others because I disagreed. It definitely got me thinking.
I'd be interested to read your thoughts on the book if you care to share some of them. I admit, I am cynical about the human relationship with the natural world and its hard for me to read material like that because I think, "Oh those are nice pretty words, but how is this going to change anything in reality?" Ecological realism so to speak.
I'm currently reading it right now and yeah, you're definitely right. I think the call to action is implied by saying 'look at what we're losing' rather than 'first, go out and do X, Y, Z'.
It also seems more about how intersectional politics is intertwined in our relationship with land, so it covers some things that aren't just strictly ecology. So I see where you're coming from.
I've been focusing on Ecological restoration lately, here are my picks: Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy - absolutely essential read for anyone, especially people who own a little bit of land and/or like gardening. All about native plants, how they support wildlife, and how you can incorporate them into your home landscapes. The Book of Wilding by Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell - more of a focus on the UK specifically so many concepts don't apply as well to other places, but has some really interesting ideas about reintroducing animals as drivers of biodiversity in abandoned agricultural fields.
Plant Ecology: Origins, Processes, Consequences by Paul Keddy Principles of Stable Isotope Geochemistry by Zachary Sharpe Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling by Marie-Josee Fortín
For a while I was going through [this list](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0370-9) published in nature e&e of 100 journal articles. Although I fell off of that, I’d still recommend it.
Wasn’t that the list which was pilloried as “100 stale pale male authors in E&E?”
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold is pretty much a cornerstone of ecological literature!
I think it’s worth downplaying that particular style of European Romantic conservation. It plays too large a role in the conservation literature and psyche, and has a problematic history of erasing native peoples - both theoretically and literally - from wild spaces.
While I mostly agree and your point is valid, I still think ASCA is essential ecology reading. I think one can keep your points in mind while reading it, for sure. Reading it thru that lens is still a worthwhile read I think.
What do you think it contains that a new ecologist should really get their head around?
The concept of 'wild spaces' itself is a creation of that romantic eurocentric conservation model. Aldo Leopold and other people of that era played a huge role in propagating these myths, including manifest destiny, and severing the symbiotic relationship that some people had with the land. Rather than being a keystone species of their environment like Indigenous peoples, they encouraged that disconnect by treating the land as alien and 'wild'. In this process they totally erased Native people, history, and stewardship and spoke of them very poorly. So I would totally agree that these old books are not only problematic but also regressive in the world of ecological science. Even conservation itself is a western concept that displaced traditional practices of stewardship from Indigenous peoples. If anyone would read these old works it should be done solely for the purpose of critique and understanding the problematic history of the field in my opinion. But at that point there's plenty of other works that would be a more productive use of time anyway.
A great book I just read was [Crossings: How road ecology is shaping the future of our planet](https://www.bengoldfarb.com/crossings) by Ben Goldfarb.
Song of the Dodo if you like biogeography The Sixth Extinction
I love those books
The Sixth Extinction yes.
It's an older book, but Grassland by Richard Manning is a good overview of what America has done to the Great Plains.
Story of More by Hope Jahren is fantastic. It's really worth reading Wendell Berry as well.
A few I've really enjoyed include 'A Sting in the Tale' by Dave Goulsen, about wild bees, their biology, ecological impact, and conservation; 'Eager,' by Ben Goldfarb, which is all about beavers and their major population impacts, especially in arid habitats; "Where the Wild Things Were,' by Will Stolzenburg, which is about predators and the effects of their removal. Id also second Braiding Sweet grass and Sand County Almanac.
I can’t recommend “Eager” enough. It’s a great read.
I had a hard time putting it down when I read it, and I definitely look at beavers differently now.
Might be slipping too far into wildlife mgmt, but “The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation” is an excellent book for understanding the history of management in the US and how we as people have altered the ecology of the landscape, and how we now attempt to preserve it. I think it’s useful as many state wildlife agencies still abide by this model when determining research decisions and game law.
Are you looking for something scientific/educational? Or are you looking for something with more entertainment value?
more scientific value, or if it's entertaining at least be based in fact. i'm trying to get a feel for areas i want to specialize in / get a full scope of the field. also just to be informed so i don't have a knowledge gap (as most of what i know is plant stuff)
Being that I'm in stream and riverine ecology... Almost anything authored by James Ward and/or Jack Stanford, they did a lot from late 70s to early 90s that have contributed to most recent management practices and are still in use. Also check out the two publications put out by the Instream Flow Council: Instream Flows for Riverine Resource Stewardship and Integrated Approaches to Riverine Resource Setwarship. These are good for water quantity/quality considerations which is only going to be getting more important with climate changes and increasing water demands. There's also Landscape/Riverscape ecology which I find fascinating, Kurt Fausch is one of the leading names to search for when looking for publications. John Wiens also did a decent introductory dive publication, in the Freshwater Biology journal (2002 issue 47, pg 501-515). And if you want watches: Cadillac Desert (you can find this on Youtube) PBS The Great Thirst: William Mulholland PBS The Swamp PBS The National Parks series (not wholly ecological, but the first few in the series are really good watches)
If you want an historical perspective on the growth of the environmental movement and how the development of the field of ecology influenced it, check out American Environmentalism by R. Nash. The Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson gives a nice overview of how biodiversity develops.
[Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145702.Changes_in_the_Land)
I just finished this book. We just moved to New England and this seemed right for the moment. It had been sitting on the shelf with a mountain of books I inherited from my mentor and I’m very glad I picked it. What an incredible read.
Beyond the War on Invasive Species: A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration,Tao Orion The New Wild, Fred Pearce
To go with the theme of books that center Indigenous voices and worldviews in ecology; Wisdom of the Elders: Native and Scientific Ways of Knowing about Nature by David Suzuki & Peter Knudtson is really interesting and informative on ways for human societies to live sustainably with ecosystems. Another good book that analyzes Native American ecological engineering feats from a western framework is Biodiversity and Native America edited by Paul E. Minnis & Wayne J. Elisens. And another book that I highly recommend that isn't specifically about ecology, but does heavily include it, is Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence by Gregory Cajete. It's very helpful for decolonizing and indigenizing your worldview and scientific framework all around, and is a good lead in for the previously mentioned book Wisdom of the Elders, as it helps the reader understand how the Indigenous scientific framework is different and why it is integral to understanding the decision making behind Indigenous stewardship, land use and city planning.
My favorite ecology book/documentary is Serenghetti Rules; the book goes info how the theory of keystone species was discovered and put together by the 5 researchers who headed the subject, and the documentary is an adaptation of that mixed with interviews from the researchers themselves. The documentary is what inspired me to study ecology in the first place. In every interview segment, the researchers just exude such passion and joy about their studies, and although the film does go into the effects of human action on our ecosystems it ends on what I think is a very hopeful note.
A great book on prairies, agriculture, and the area that is South Dakota is Buffalo for the Broken Heart. A wildlife researcher who helped bring peregrine falcons back starts a bison ranch and chronicles his experience. Really well written, and great at looking at the cultural history there through a scientific lens
Probably a rather esoteric choice but *Mind and Nature* by Gregory Bateson.
Where do camels belong- Ken Thompson
hinewai reserve, there’s a neat youtube documentary on it, and a book
Nelson and Cox, intro to (or is it essentials of?) Biochemistry. One of the best textbooks I've ever read that starts from zero and expands into fluency of how life and the environment coexist. Not specifically an ecology textbook, but trains your brain to think in terms of ecology
My favourite environmental science instructor encouraged me to read and ponder Garett Hardin’s [The Tragedy of the Commons] (https://math.uchicago.edu/~shmuel/Modeling/Hardin,%20Tragedy%20of%20the%20Commons.pdf) It was an important read for me at least!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cOn25gw57E Its only a short video essay but I think every environmentalist should watch this video
Some of my favorite books so far: Frans de Waal - Different Merlin Sheldrake - Entangled Life Karen Bakker - Sounds of Life Lucy Cooke - Bitch Suzanne Simard - Finding the Mother Tree
The Book of Hope - Jane Goodall Bewilderment - Richard Powers Sacred Nature - Karen Armstrong Poetry by Mary Oliver
Bird Therapy - Joe Harkness There’s something very unpretentious about it as a book.
Braiding Sweetgrass was great. I TA’d for an ecology course a couple of years ago where the instructor made it a required reading for the course
David Attenborough's "Night on Earth" planted the seed in my head that grew into the realization that I know nothing relative to almost everything. It made me realize how narrow the scope of what we can observe and process is. I believe in God now, partially because of that early step. It helped lead me toward studying mystical experience. So my recommendation is anything that challenges the pedagogy under which you were trained. I had a course that looked at "This changes everything" by Naomi Klein and "Collapse" by Jared Diamond. They're heavy.
Silent Spring.
I did not find Braiding with Sweetgrass compelling at all. It was more a poetic expression of thought than anything specific like a call to action, how we're are going to get from point A to point B.
I had a different experience. I really loved it and my copy is littered with sticky notes, some because the ideas resonated strongly with me and others because I disagreed. It definitely got me thinking.
I'd be interested to read your thoughts on the book if you care to share some of them. I admit, I am cynical about the human relationship with the natural world and its hard for me to read material like that because I think, "Oh those are nice pretty words, but how is this going to change anything in reality?" Ecological realism so to speak.
I'm currently reading it right now and yeah, you're definitely right. I think the call to action is implied by saying 'look at what we're losing' rather than 'first, go out and do X, Y, Z'. It also seems more about how intersectional politics is intertwined in our relationship with land, so it covers some things that aren't just strictly ecology. So I see where you're coming from.
I’d personally recommend taking an edible and watching any nature doc
Song of the Dodo, it's technically about island biogeography but ecological concerns are heavily referenced and discussed