The Californian Wildlife Region

Rating:
Summary: The Californian Wildlife Region, 3rd. ed.
Review: Before dismissing this title due to the previous review written by another reader of the 2nd. edition, let me fill you in on the usefulness of the new (and old editions). The reader must understand this book is written for the person who wants to study or identify some of California's common vast wildlife (both animals and plants), from the perspective of the "region" that they live in. This means that one can find out what plants and animals are common to various California biomes or plant communities. This might be of little use to most general readers, but this is very useful to teachers and students working on a California biome project.

True, the lavishly illustrated field guides by "Peterson," "the Audubon Society," "University of California Press" and many others, are great in their own ways. Believe I have scores of these. But these books are mainly useful for identification and the range of a species, they give little information about how the species in a "region" interact. If you are studying ecology or trying to construct a local food web, Vinson Brown's book is one of the few sources for the whole state. Of course there are obscure publications covering a particular region in great detail.

Rating:
Summary: The Californian Wildlife Region
Review: I certainly wasted my money on this one. No color photographs, only black and white drawings. Little useful information. Of no use to me at all.