![]() ![]() Regarding energy, we're reminded that it's never created or destroyed, but simply changes forms - electrical to thermal to chemical to mechanical, for instance. Insects wear their skeletons outside - exoskeletons made of chitin - and without microorganisms capable of digesting that chitin, those tiny castoffs would soon bury everything on Earth. Perhaps 99 percent of individual trees can't feed themselves - instead they depend on fungi, or mycorrhizae, to surround and penetrate their roots and provide nutrients in exchange for sugars. The authors remind us that nature cares for things we can't. ![]() California includes the lowest point and the highest peak in the contiguous United States, as well as, alas, the hottest and driest. We learn how unique California is - that Clear Lake is perhaps the most ancient lake in North America a bristlecone pine in the White Mountains is the oldest living tree in the Western Hemisphere a giant sequoia is the biggest tree by volume in the world and coast redwoods the world's tallest. It's also a fine read, introducing everything from the source of all energy and life, to minute details about California's plants and animals. Promoting environmental literacy and stewardship, the program aims "to inspire adults to become active citizen scientists" and create "a stronger constituency for nature." ![]() "The California Naturalist Handbook," 2013, by Greg de Nevers, Deborah Stanger Edelman and Adina Merenlender is the primary text for the California naturalist certification program. ![]()
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