Heartland Ecology

Helen M. Alexander is professor emerita of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas. W. Dean Kettle is adjunct researcher and former research programs director at the University of Kansas Field Station.

"This remarkable book is a treasure trove of carefully assembled information on Midwestern native and agricultural landscapes. An invitation to join the authors to both love the land and study its secrets."-Cornelia F. Mutel, author of Fragile Giants: A Natural History of the Loess Hills and The Emerald Horizon: The History of Nature in Iowa, and editor of the award-winning Tending Iowa's Land: Pathways to a Sustainable Future "This is a fantastic book-a comprehensive but digestible interpretation of the landscapes that span the vastly underappreciated Heartland of America. It's a terrific resource for people who live in the Heartland and yearn to better understand it. It would also make a wonderful gift for people who don't live here and can't understand why anyone would want to."-Chris Helzer, ecologist, conservation photographer, land manager, and author of "The Prairie Ecologist" blog, and author of The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States, and Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter "An affectionate, carefully informed guide to the country's mid-section. The language, the drawings, the love of the land make this book indispensable, whether you're a denizen of the heartland or just passing through."-Rex Buchanan, director emeritus of the Kansas Geological Survey, and editor of Kansas Geology: An Introduction to Landscapes, Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils and Roadside Kansas: A Traveler's Guide to Its Geology and Landmarks "Heartland Ecology illustrates the interconnectedness of the Midwest's prairies, farms, forests and waters. This book illuminates the importance of understanding, valuing and caring for our resource-rich landscape to create thriving communities now and into the future."-Sally Worley, Executive Director, Practical Farmers of Iowa "The authors provide insightful documentation of how the history and culture of our region has left an indelible mark on the land, plants and animals. And with attention to interesting details, the authors make a very positive contribution to our understanding of the lands we occupy and see as we travel around the area."-Kelly Kindscher, Professor, ethnobotanist, University of Kansas, and author of Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide and Medicinal Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide