Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands [Paperback]

Carla C. Bossard (Editor), John M. Randall (Editor), Marc C. Hoshovsky (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520225473 | ISBN-13: 978-0520225473 | Publication Date: August 7, 2000 | Edition: 1

Invasive species--those nonnative organisms that aggressively spread into the landscape--are widely recognized as major threats to biological diversity, second only to direct habitat loss. This book provides specific information about the biology and control of the 78 nonnative plant species that are listed by the California Exotic Pest Plant Council (CalEPPC) as being of greatest ecological concern in California.
The heart of the book consists of species accounts, each description illustrated with a close-up photo, a habitat photo, and line drawings showing details to aid identification. The text addresses the following questions about each speices: How do I recognize it? Where would I find it? Where did it come from and how does it spread? What problems does it cause? How does it grow and reproduce? How can I get rid of it?
Many invasives can be halted or slowed, and in certain circumstances even badly infested areas can be restored. With the help of this book, land managers, volunteer stewards, conservationists, and others concerned with wildlands in the western United States can better understand invasive plants and help combat the damage they do.
This book was inadvertently printed without a common-name index. To see the index, please click the "Errata" link above.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"Invasive nonnative plants threaten native species with habitat loss, displacement, and severe population declines, thus seriously reducing biodiversity. Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands is a tremendous source for land managers and others who are interested in protecting the rich natural heritage of California and surrounding states."--John C. Sawhill, President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy

From the Back Cover

"Invasive nonnative plants threaten native species with habitat loss, displacement, and severe population declines, thus seriously reducing biodiversity. Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands is a tremendous source for land managers and others who are interested in protecting the rich natural heritage of California and surrounding states." (John C. Sawhill, President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (August 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520225473
• ISBN-13: 978-0520225473
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #596,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Work!, January 23, 2003

By 

"sdark5" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands (Paperback)

This books is the first book to compile information of invasive species that are a threat to native plant communties. The review for each plant is superb citing historical, physiological, and distribution information. I strongly recommend this book for anyone studying invasive plant species. This book will not be of much help the gardener, but it is incredibly helpful to the conservationist and academic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An informative book, January 10, 2007

By 

John Doe (Gambier, OH United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands (Hardcover)

This is a very interesting and informative book concerning some of the plants you are most likely to see in California's semi-urbanized wild places... that is, you're often more likely to see these plants than native plants.

However, only a limited number of plants are covered, and there are quite a few very common and highly invasive species that I wish she'd included. This is a compliment to the amount of information she provides about the plants that ARE in the book: where the plant came from, how to get rid of it, how it propagates, various musings of someone evidently quite familiar with the species, and more.

Also, there are a number of species that only occur in southern California, so if you live further north like me, this information is not especially useful.

8 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to standards?, March 31, 2002

By 

P. van Rijckevorsel (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands (Paperback)

When comparing this with "Invasive_Plants. Weeds of the Global Garden" it would seem logical that at more than three times the price this book would offer considerably more. It does offer more text, and color pictures that are a little bigger. In addition there are small maps of California, showing distribution and small line drawings. This book would gain in accessibility if each new species started on a new page, if the line drawings were of a size and quality more aimed to facilitate recognising the species and if a more consistent format of color picture had been used, preferably showing some characteristic details.

By the way I do worry about the way both books recommend the use of herbicides like glyphosates (roundup and the like): it sounds as if the cure may be worse than the plague.