By Lee & J.J. MacFadden
» “Eastern Forests: A Field Guide to Birds, Mammals, Trees, Flowers, and More” by John Kricher, Illustrated by Gordon Morrison, 1998, Houghton Mifflin, $20.00, softbound, 488 pages.
“Eastern Forests,” one of Peterson’s Field Guides, was written by John Kricher and illustrated by Gordon Morrison. It was designed to take the place of 10 field guides, and to cover all the plants and animals you’re most likely to encounter in eastern North American forests. This field guide has been arranged in a way that illustrates how plants and animals interact rather than being organized taxonomically, that is, by family, genus and species.
This means, among other things, that illustration plates contain several combinations of species. For example, you won’t find herons all grouped together; instead you may find a green-backed heron on the same page with a mink, a silver maple and a spotted sandpiper. There are also chapters devoted to the patterns of spring, summer and autumn/winter.
Firstly, Kricher explains the field marks of a forest; the field marks help tell about the forest’s present, past and future as well as giving an idea of how the forest is structured. Some of these field marks include stratification, which is how green leaves are characteristically arranged; indicator species, which are those species that are most abundant and conspicuous in a habitat; and forest gaps, which are localized forest openings created by such things as a fire or the death of a large canopy tree.
Kricher then describes what makes up Eastern forest communities. Climate is the main deciding factor of the distribution of plants and animals. The nature of the soil also has an influence on the community, as does fire. Kricher includes a color-coded map to illustrate the whereabouts of major forest communities such as northern savannah, beach-maple, and mixed Appalachian.
The chapter on adaptation is intended to help the reader focus in on why things happen in nature. For instance, why does a groundhog hibernate when other rodents such as gray squirrels and white-footed mice do not? (Part of the answer lies in genetics; neither gray squirrels nor white-footed mice developed the trait for hibernation.)
The season-based chapters are quite interesting. In the spring chapter, for example, Kricher talks about courtship feeding among birds (in which males feed females), which is common among nuthatches, woodpeckers, finches, jays and many others. The author also explains how to find amphibians, most of whom are nocturnal (a quality flashlight or headlamp is useful).
» Lee’s take: Excellent.
» J.J.’s take: An outstanding book.
Lee and J.J. MacFadden are twins living in Bristol, Tenn. Email them at leeandjj.doubletake@yahoo.com.
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