Book Details Northwest Regional Natural History

Review of “A Sierra Club Naturalist’s Guide: The Pacific Northwest”

Oct 19, 2009

Author Stephen Whitney offers a comprehensive look at the land from Southeastern Alaska to Northern California, through Oregon and Washington to Western Montana.

The Pacific Northwest is a varied region. From the rain soaked Olympic Peninsula in Washington to the desert conditions of southern Oregon, Stephen Whitney’s A Sierra Club Naturalist’s Guide: The Pacific Northwest tells why these wildly diverse conditions exist and how each distinct ecology developed. The author covers natural plant and animal communities from the wet coastal forests to the inland valleys, the sub-alpine and alpine zones of the region’s mountain ranges, the dry grasslands and sagebrush country of eastern Oregon and Washington and on to the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Within this vast area the book introduces readers to the trees, shrubs and herbal vegetation in each region, plus their wildlife inhabitants including elk, bears, beavers, mountain goats, and eagles. Readers will learn how the geography, climate and geology have worked together to create the differing habitats.

Geography, Geology and Climate

The book opens with a view of the “Lay of the Land,” giving an overview of the natural geography of such areas as the drowned mountain range that forms Vancouver Island in British Columbia and neighboring islands, and the low troughs that form the Puget Sound area of Washington and the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

In subsequent chapters the reader learns how ancient volcanic upheavals and ice ages helped form the mountains, valleys and coastlines of the area and how climate affects the varied regional habitats.

From Spruce and Hemlock Forests to Redwoods

The author concentrates heavily on the tree communities that characterize each of the distinct geographical areas today, along with associated shrub and ground cover plants and the wildlife that depend on them.

Readers learn why spruce and hemlock dominate the coastal areas of Oregon and Washington, while redwoods are confined to a small coastal band of Northern California. They learn why Douglas fir is the major tree in the western inland valleys and what other trees grow with it. And they’ll learn why ponderosa pine prefers the east side of the north-south running Cascade Range.

Mountains and Deserts

Adaptations to the harsh life in the high mountains, including early breeding seasons and migrations among mountain animals and birds are discussed, as well as life amid the abundance of coastal marshes and estuaries.

While rain is typically associated with the Pacific Northwest, much of the region is dry. Whitney tells why and where the change from damp to parched takes place. In the arid inland Northwest the author finds much variety amid the sagebrush, and readers will learn how the scattered plants there manage to survive.

Whitney’s book is an in-depth look at the varied and beautiful Pacific Northwest region, going far beyond the typical identification field guide.

Publication Information

A Sierra Club Naturalist’s Guide: The Pacific Northwest – Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Montana, and the Coastal Forests of Northern California, British Columbia and Southeastern Alaska, by Stephen

The copyright of the article Book Details Northwest Regional Natural History in Science/Tech Books is owned by Linda McDonnell. Permission to republish Book Details Northwest Regional Natural History in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.