Crossings : how road ecology is shaping the future of our planet / Ben Goldfarb.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York, NY : W.W. Norton & Company, [2023]Copyright date: ©2023Edition: First editionDescription: x, 370 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781324005896
- 1324005890
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
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Dr. James Carlson Library | NonFiction | 577.27 G618 | Available | 33111011088990 | |||||
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Adult Book
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Main Library | NonFiction | New | 577.27 G618 | Available | 33111011189129 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they're practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the U.S. alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill. Creatures from antelope to salmon are losing their ability to migrate in search of food and mates; invasive plants hitch rides in tire treads; road salt contaminates lakes and rivers; and the very noise of traffic chases songbirds from vast swaths of habitat.
Yet road ecologists are also seeking to blunt the destruction through innovative solutions. Goldfarb meets with conservationists building bridges for California's mountain lions and tunnels for English toads, engineers deconstructing the labyrinth of logging roads that web national forests, animal rehabbers caring for Tasmania's car-orphaned wallabies, and community organizers working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon American cities.
Today, as our planet's road network continues to grow exponentially, the science of road ecology has become increasingly vital. Written with passion and curiosity, Crossings is a sweeping, spirited, and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world--and how we can create a better future for all living beings.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-350) and index.
Introduction: The wing of the swallow -- Part I: Killer on the road. And now the devil-wagon! ; The moving fence ; Hotel California ; In cold blood -- Part II: More than a road. Roads unmade ; The blab of the pave ; Life on the verge ; The necrobiome ; The lost frontier -- Part III: The roads ahead. The graciousness at the heart of creation ; Sentinel roads ; The tsunami ; Reparations -- Epilogue: The anthropause.
"An eye-opening and witty account of the global ecological transformations wrought by roads, from an award-winning author. Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, but we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. In Crossings, Ben Goldfarb delves into the new science of road ecology to explore how roads have transformed our world. Millions of animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone, and roads fragment wildlife populations into inbred clusters, disrupt migration for creatures from antelope to salmon, allow invasive plants to spread and even bend the arc of evolution itself. But road ecologists are also seeking innovative solutions: Goldfarb meets with conservationists building bridges for mountain lions and tunnels for toads, engineers deconstructing logging roads, and citizens working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon cities. A sweeping, spirited and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world, Crossings also shows us how to create a better future for all living beings" -- Provided by publisher.