One day, while studying population maps with a colleague, ethnobiologist Gary Paul Nabhan recognized a surprising correlation between human upheavals in communities and the incidence of endangered species. Where massive in-migrations and exoduses of people were taking place, more plants and animals had become threatened. Locations with stable human populations sustained native wildlife more easily over the long term. This revelation prompted Nabhan to spend the next three years studying "cultures of habitat", human communities with long histories of interacting with one particular kind of terrain and its wildlife.
Here the author of The Desert Smells Like Rain explores the realm in which diverse natural habitats and indigenous cultures coexist without overwhelming each other. The result is a series of essays that celebrates the vital connections between soul and space.
