Nature of the Rainforest: Costa Rica and Beyond(Zona Tropical Publications)

About the Book

A Zona Tropical Publication"The words 'tropical rainforest' may conjure up vistas populated by jaguars, brilliant macaws, and flowers amid the grandeur of towering buttressed trees. But the eager, expectant visitor is not regaled with the sight of charismatic vertebrates, gaudy birds, and luminous orchids. In the rainforest, close encounters with life that moves are usually rare but brilliant episodes; one is bedazzled for an instant and then left alone in the quiet greenery. Under such conditions, one must see the episode as part of a process; tracing the connections between organisms is the essence of rainforest appreciation."-Nature of the RainforestNature of the Rainforest is a breathtaking tour of an environment that is the pinnacle of biodiversity and evolutionary sophistication by an award-winning author and two photographers who love the rainforest, understand its intricacies, and have spent considerable time there documenting its wildlife and complexity. Adrian Forsyth draws on four decades of personal encounters with the animals of the rainforest-including poison-dart frogs, three-toed sloths, bushmasters, and umbrellabirds-as a starting point to communicate key ecological topics such as biodiversity, coevolution, rarity, chemical defense, nutrient cycling, and camouflage. The luminous photographs capture stunning and rare creatures in action, including the now- extinct golden toad mating, a jaguar on the prowl, and the hermit hummingbird feeding. The behaviors and characteristics of the rainforest inhabitants featured here not only illustrate the text but also advance the scientific narrative and exemplify the critical importance of conservation. Thematic chapters are interspersed with four chapters devoted to specific habitats and regions of Costa Rica and Peru, areas with some of the most diverse arrays of plant and animal species in the world. The result is an exuberant celebration of the rainforest in text and images.

About the Author :

Adrian Forsyth is an internationally renowned biologist, conservationist, and nature writer. He is the author of Tropical Nature, The Natural History of Sex, The Nature of Birds, Exploring the World of Insects, and Mammals of North America. He is President of the Amazon Conservation Association and a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution. Michael Fogden and Patricia Fogden are world-acclaimed nature photographers. Since 1979, they have lived for about half of each year in Monteverde, using their home as a base for photography excursions throughout Costa Rica. They are the authors of Animals and their Colours and Costa Rica: Wildlife of the National Parks and Reserves. E. O. Wilson is Pellegrino University Research Professor in Entomology in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and the author most recently of The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth.

Review :
"Forsyth succeeds in blending scientific data and analysis with an almost storytelling prose that should enthuse both professional and lay readers. As warned, some of the stories he tells tend to be personal in nature, or at least they start out that way. Each, however, weaves fascinating insights into the mystery and beauty of tropical biology... His cause and his words are for understanding and protecting the tropical world. And for that, we should applaud his efforts and gain from his insights." -- Sterling Evans,H-Net(September 2016) "What at first appears to be a new work by the distinguished naturalist Forsyth is actually an update of his 1990 Portraits of the Rainforest. The two pieces in Portraits that discussed in detail human activity in rain forests have been removed and replaced by three new reflective essays on the history, ecology, and future existence of certain rainforests. The new chapters have a much better fit here, as they express Forsyth's desire to give readers his sense of admiration and compassion for these relatively unknown ecosystems. While Forsyth's easy-to-read prose definitely helps to deliver his message, it is by far the photographs from the renowned Fogden that truly give readers reasons to appreciate these ecological treasures. Very few pictures from the original Portraits are included; instead, the photographers incorporate new sets of their spectacular and breathtaking images to create awareness and concern for these endangered rainforest ecosystems. Recommended for medium-sized to large public libraries and those with (introductory) natural history programs."-Library Journal "Adrian Forsyth contributes with this book to the genuine literature of ecology, wherein exact knowledge is expressed through the prisms of disciplined emotion. Such writing requires a rare combination of scientific training and metaphorical skill, and Forsyth displays the instincts of a creative writer, taking us deep into the tropical rainforest. Nature of the Rainforest calls attention to the best of this planet and to the compelling reasons why we should look south, inland, to the forest of dreams."-from the Foreword by E. O. Wilson "Nature of the Rainforest is an absolutely spectacular, essential addition to the library of any natural history buff, ecologist, or tropical forest conservationist. Its text reads like a Sand County Almanac for the tropics (something long needed and overdue) while the stunning photographs depict stories of how life works in this unique ecosystem. Adrian Forsyth loves the forest, understands the forest, and writes really well. The Fogdens' incredible photographs, which serve as biological portraits of ecology, left me breathless."-Meg Lowman, author of Life in the Treetops