This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1973.

Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. The city's expansion-at the rate of one acre per hour-comes at the expense of its Sonoran Desert environment. For some residents, the American Dream has become a nightmare.In this provocative book, Janine Schipper examines the cultural forces that contribute to suburban sprawl in the United States. Focusing on the Phoenix area, she examines sustainable development in Cave Creek, various master-planned suburbs, and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation to explore suburbanization and ecological destruction. She also explains why sprawl continues despite the heavy toll it takes on the environment. Schipper gives voice to community members who have experienced the pressures of sprawl and questioned fundamental assumptions that sustain it. She presents the perspectives of the many players in the sprawl debate-from developers and politicians to environmentalists and property-rights advocates-not merely to document the phenomenon but also to reveal how seemingly natural ways of thinking about the land are influenced by cultural forces that range from notions of a "rational society" to the marketing of the American Dream. Disappearing Desert speaks to land-use dilemmas nationwide and shows that curtailing suburban development requires both policy shifts and new ways of relating to the land. For anyone seeking to understand the cultural basis for rampant development, this book uncovers the forces that drive sprawl and searches for solutions to its seeming inevitability.

Monitoring changes in landbird population and community parameters can be an important element of a comprehensive, long-term monitoring program. In 2010, landbirds were surveyed within six of seven Chihuahuan Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network (CHDN) parks.

Encyclopedia of Deserts represents a milestone: it is the first comprehensive reference to the first comprehensive reference to deserts and semideserts of the world. Approximately seven hundred entries treat subjects ranging from desert survival to the way deserts are formed. Topics include biology (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, invertebrates, plants, bacteria, physiology, evolution), geography, climatology, geology, hydrology, anthropology, and history. The thirty-seven contributors, including volume editor Michael A. Mares, have had extensive careers in deserts research, encompassing all of the world's arid and semiarid regions. The Encyclopedia opens with a subject list by topic, an organizational guide that helps the reader grasp interrelationships and complexities in desert systems. Each entry concludes with cross-references to other entries in the volume, inviting the reader to embark on a personal expedition into fascinating, previously unknown terrain. In addition a list of important readings facilitates in-depth study of each topic. An exhaustive index permits quick access to places, topics, and taxonomic listings of all plants and animals discussed. More than one hundred photographs, drawings, and maps enhance our appreciation of the remarkable life, landforms, history, and challenges of the world's arid land.

Tales of the Sonoran Desert These fourteen tales give voice to the plants and animals of the unique desert that lies in the southwestern United States and in Mexico. Regularly shared in storytelling venues by the author, the tales have proven to intrigue audiences with their vibrant characters, spellbinding narratives, and unexpected twists. A sense of both wonder and humor accompanies listeners and readers as they journey through a land of such marvels as an ocotillo whose flowers of flame are a tribute to its compassion, a guilt-stricken coyote who pleads for forgiveness with the moon, and an ironwood tree whose acceptance of the whole of life brings with it with the gift of tears. The subtle lessons to be learned and the factual information to be enjoyed are an added plus in these imaginative stories that enhance understanding and respect for the Sonoran Desert and its inhabitants. (Ages 10 to adult; younger children will enjoy having the stories read to them).

A Giant Is Born/Nace un gigante is the story of the Saguaro Cactus and its interaction with various desert neighbors. Maria Luisa Retana presents the story in both English and Spanish and illustrates it with real photos which includes many of the ones she took while researching the topic at the Saguaro National Park in Arizona. A Giant Is Born/Nace un gigante es la historia del Cactus Saguaro y su accion reciproca con los diversos vecinos del desierto. Maria Luisa Retana presenta la historia en ingles y en espanol y la ilustra con fotos de las muchas que tomo mientras hacia investigacion sobre el tema en el Saguaro National Park en Arizona.

This book, in both English and Spanish, will introduce readers to a unique region that has been hidden in plain sight for far too long. Of the four deserts found in North America, the Chihuahuan Desert is the largest. Located in both the United States and Mexico, it is not the desolate place most people think of when they hear "desert." Eight ecosystems, resulting from basin and range landforms, have created an area teeming with extremely diverse plant and animal life. It is a place that deserves our attention and respect.