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Prairie: A Natural History Candace Savage The North American prairie is a vast and often underappreciated place. Most who drive through or fly over it are on their way to somewhere else. Many doubtless view it as flat, boring, interminable, and just plain in the way. But there is a subtle complexity here. You won't get to know this place by driving through it at seventy miles per hour. You have to get out of the car and explore. Wade through grass taller than your head. Slog through an ephemeral wetland. Or sit, motionless, and wait - watching, listening, even tasting the air. If you wait long enough, the prairie will come to you. The prairie is also a place of great power. It may not always look that way, and I'm not sure whence that power comes. Maybe it's the wide open aspect of the land, the spectacular spray of stars on a clear night, or the incessant wind, always rushing past on its way to who knows where. But the power remains. It doesn't rain much here, but when it does - look out. I can remember walking along a gravel road in central Kansas and looking up in alarm to see a steadily approaching black wall that stretched from horizon to horizon. The prairie is rarely a flashy place, but it was that day. The lightning put on a spectacular show, fully orchestrated by thunder drums. The combination of subtlety and power make the prairie hard to describe. But Candace Savage does a masterful job in Prairie: A Natural History . She begins with some geography, describing where the prairie is, and how it differs over its expanse, before showing how the land formed all those millions of years ago.From there, it's a systematic yet frequently poetic treatment of the plants and animals that make their homes here. It begins with grass, the dominant vegetation, and covers any number of plants and animals, from bizarre creatures found only in the soil, to a wonderful relationship between ants and caterpillars, to the recent encroachment of trees. It is a gorgeous book, packed with striking photographs and many maps and drawings. There are numerous sidebars and short essays that elaborate on some of the more interesting aspects of prairie life (and death). My only criticism is that I wish the book were even broader in scope, including (for example) the transitional savannas that border the larger expanse of true prairie. Still, this is an excellent book, and I recommend it. M. Habeck Prairie: A Natural History by Candace Savage Greystone Books ISBN: 1-55365-190-1 308pp. Index. 2004. |
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