- Library
- LibGuides
- Curated Lists
- > Buiten/aards leven - Extra/terrestrial life
Introduction
Our planet is full of life – connected, fragile, and fascinating. This book list helps you explore ecosystems, from fungi to urban nature, and shows why biodiversity matters. Whether you're a curious reader or nature lover, these books reveal how nature works – and how we can help protect it.
Check out our Green Library on the 2nd floor of the UB, with various works on biodiversity and insects, from fiction and poetry to popular science books.
Inspirational reading
Braiding Sweetgrass
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on "a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise" (Elizabeth Gilbert).
One thousand shades of green
From Cornwall to Kent and Breckland to the Scottish Highlands, Mike meets the resilient reserve wardens and courageous conservationists tasked with protecting some of the nation's richest botanical sites, and experiences first-hand the many difficulties associated with saving our rarest and most charismatic plants. Taking in city centres, mountain tops and every conceivable habitat in between, One Thousand Shades of Green is a manifesto on how to love and conserve our green and pleasant land, and celebrates the beauty and diversity of the nation's plants.
Active Hope
The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, war, political polarization, economic upheaval, and the dying back of nature together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face these crises so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we're in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.
Essays to My Daughter on Our Relationship with the Natural World
What do fishing with an otter, sitting atop a mountain at dawn with eighty Taiwanese backpackers, and driving home from Aldo Leopold's Shack have to say about the evolution of a personal environmental philosophy? Essays to My Daughter on Our Relationship With the Natural World provides a series of reflections by an environmental educator about lessons learned from time spent in nature.
One Garden Against the World: In Search of Hope in a Changing Climate
In her uplifting new book, Kate writes passionately about how her climate-change anxiety pushes her to look for positive ways to keep going in a changing world. As in her first memoir, she invites you into her life. One Garden Against the World is a call to action for all of us - gardeners, communities and individuals - to do more for wildlife and more for the climate. Climate change and biodiversity loss go hand in hand, but if we work together, it's never too late to make a difference.
John Büsst
A rich biography of artist-turned-environmental campaigner John Busst. Known to his enemies as 'The Bingil Bay Bastard', John Busst, a Bendigo-born Melbourne bohemian artist, moved to tropical Bedarra Island in North Queensland and underwent an extraordinary transformation to become one of Australia's most successful conservationists.
What climate justice means and why we should care
Philosopher Elizabeth Cripps approaches climate justice not just as an abstract idea but as something that should motivate us all. She explores our obligations to each other and to the non-human world, unravels the legacy of colonialism and entrenched racism, and makes the case for immediate action. The second half of the book looks at solutions. Who should pay the bill for climate action? Who must have a say? How can we hold multinational companies, organisations - even nations - to account? Cripps argues powerfully that climate justice goes beyond political polarization. Climate activism is a moral duty, not a political choice.
Children's literatures, cultures and pedagogies in the anthropocene: multidisciplinary entanglements
This open access book explores how children's literature and cultures allow them to navigate environmental crises. With chapters from global researchers working in literary, cultural, childhood and education studies, it provides multidisciplinary perspectives on, and models for, how children might embrace hope over fear. It examines various forms of storytelling, learning, thinking, and teaching, asking what children can learn from each other, from intergenerational and interspecies engagement and from human and more-than-human teachers.
Decolonizing nature
The Mushroom at the End of the World
Matsutake is the most valuable mushroom in the world--and a weed that grows in human-disturbed forests across the northern hemisphere. By investigating one of the world's most sought-after fungi, The Mushroom at the End of the World presents an original examination into the relation between capitalist destruction and collaborative survival within multispecies landscapes, the prerequisite for continuing life on earth.
The domination of nature
"Concern over ecological and environmental problems grows daily, and many believe we're at a critical tipping point. Scientists, social thinkers, public officials, and the public recognize that failure to understand the destructive impact of industrial society and advanced technologies on the delicate balance of organic life in the global ecosystem will result in devastating problems for future generations. In The Domination of Nature William Leiss argues that this global predicament must be understood in terms of deeply rooted attitudes towards nature. He traces the origins, development, and social consequences of an idea whose imprint is everywhere in modern thought: the idea of the domination of nature.
The geopolitics of green colonialism: global justice and eco-social transitions
Colonial relations underpin now-ubiquitous claims around transition, net zero and the green economy.
Mother / Nature
This brief but ambitious book explores the relationship with nature through the imagery we use when we talk about Mother Nature. Employing the critical tools of religious studies, psychology, and gender studies, Roach examines the various manifestations of nature as 'mother' and what that idea implies for the way we approach the natural world.
The Global Casino
The Global Casino is an introduction to environmental issues which deals both with the workings of the physical environment and the political, economic and social frameworks in which the issues occur. Using examples from all over the world, the book highlights the underlying causes behind environmental problems, the human actions which have made them issues, and the hopes for solutions.
Decolonizing Nature
An exploration of the enduring influence of the colonial legacy on attitudes about relationships between people and nature in countries that were once part of the British Empire, either at the periphery or the centre. Colonial annexation and government were accompanied by the colonization and exploitation of nature, both for production and even in the name of conservation. At the start of the 21st century, the conservation of nature is still of vital importance in these countries, but what should this conservation look like? What ideas can it be based upon? This work argues that there is a need for new forms of ethical engagement between people and nature.
Common boundaries: the theory and practice of environmental property
How do we - and how should we - engage with the natural environment through the concepts of rights and responsibilities? In this book, Michael Cox develops the theory and practice of environmental property rights, moving beyond simplistic assumptions that do not reflect the diversity of arrangements we see in the world. Recognizing this diversity will help us craft better responses to environmental problems in the future with an interdisciplinary foundation in what has worked, or not worked, in the past.
Badvertising: polluting our minds and fuelling climate chaos
In Badvertising, Andrew Simms and Leo Murray raise the alarm on an industry that is making us both unhealthy and unhappy, and that is driving the planet to the precipice of environmental collapse in the process.What is the psychological impact of being barraged by literally thousands of advertisements a day? How does the commercialisation of our public spaces weaken our sense of belonging? How are car manufacturers, airlines and oil companies lobbying to weaken climate action? Examining the devastating impact of advertising on our minds and on the planet, Badvertising also crucially explores what we can do to change things for the better.
Workers of the earth: labour, ecology and reproduction in the age of climate change
An ecofeminist perspective on today's global climate struggle."Capitalism is destroying our planet, but like most social progress in the last two centuries, ecological justice can only be achieved through working-class struggle. In Workers of the Earth, Stefania Barca uncovers the environmental history and political ecology of labour to shed new light on the potentiality of workers as ecological subjects.
Ecofiction
Ecocriticism and Women Writers
Virginia Woolf, Jeanette Winterson, and Ali Smith share an ecological philosophy of the world as one highly interconnected entity comprised of multiple and equal, human and non-human participants. This study argues that these writers' texts have an ecological significance in fostering respect for and understanding of difference, human and nonhuman.
Writing ecofiction: navigating the challenges of environmental narrative
This creative writing textbook introduces students to ecofiction: narrative writing that focuses on the environment. Also known as 'climate fiction' or 'cli-fi', an increasing number of short story writers, novelists and pioneers of emerging forms such as interactive fiction are taking up the call to develop their own creative responses to the climate crisis. This guide explores a cross-section of genres and ways of writing about our world, as well as the ethical and technical challenges involved. It offers a discussion of classic and contemporary texts, literary criticism and creative writing exercises.
Ecocollapse Fiction and Cultures of Human Extinction
This book is the first in-depth exploration of contemporary fictions that imagine the imbrication of human and nonhuman within global species extinctions. It closely interrogates novels from authors like Cormac McCarthy and Yann Martel that reject the impulse of human exceptionalism to demonstrate what it might be like to go extinct.
Taking place: environmental change in literature and art
Taking Place: Environment and Place in Literature and Art explores how works of literature and art help us to rethink the ways that we have perceived, imagined, inhabited, explored, conquered, and shared places. The book offers chapters on India, Southern Africa, Ireland, Australia, and New York City. The literary and artistic works investigated range in time from early indigenous rock art to contemporary literary representations of place. Bonnie Kime Scott participates in ongoing interdisciplinary discussions of ecocritical, feminist, postcolonial, post-humanist and place studies.
Anthropocene Fictions
Anthropocene Fictions is the first systematic examination of the hundreds of novels that have been written about anthropogenic climate change. Drawing on climatology, the sociology and philosophy of science, geography, and environmental economics, Adam Trexler argues that the novel has become an essential tool to construct meaning in an age of climate change.
Where the Wild Books Are
As interest in environmental issues grows, many writers of fiction have embraced themes that explore the connections between humans and the natural world. Ecologically themed fiction ranges from profound philosophical meditations to action-packed entertainments. Where the Wild Books Are offers an overview of nearly 2,000 works of nature-oriented fiction. The author includes a discussion of the precursors and history of the genre, and of its expansion since the 1970s. He also considers its forms and themes, as well as the subgenres into which it has evolved, such as speculative fiction, ecodefense, animal stories, mysteries, ecofeminist novels, cautionary tales, and others.
Zombiescapes and Phantom Zones
A study of the natural world as imagined by contemporary writers, specifically their portrayals of nature as monster In Zombiescapes and Phantom Zones: Ecocriticism and the Liminal from "Invisible Man" to "The Walking Dead," Lee Rozelle chronicles the weirdest, ugliest, and most mixed-up characters to appear on the literary scene since World War II--creatures intimately linked to damaged habitats that rise from the muck, not to destroy or rule the world, but to save it. The book asks what happens to these landscapes after the madness, havoc, and destruction. What monsters and magic surface then?
How nature works
Brilliant Green
In Brilliant Green, Stefano Mancuso, a leading scientist and founder of the field of plant neurobiology, presents a new paradigm in our understanding of the vegetal world. Combining a historical perspective with the latest in plant science, Mancuso argues that, due to cultural prejudices and human arrogance, we continue to underestimate plants. In fact, they process information, sleep, remember, and signal to one another -- showing that, far from passive machines, plants are intelligent and aware. Plants have much to teach us, from network building to innovations in robotics and man-made materials -- but only if we understand more about how they live.
Bees, science, and sex in the literature of the long nineteenth century
For centuries, humans have invested enormous weight in the symbol of the honey bee. The authors of the meticulously-researched Bees, Science, Sex and Literature in the Long Nineteenth Century show how the symbol changes radically in the literature and culture of the nineteenth-century, as emerging technologies and new biological discoveries clash with long-held agrarian and poetic traditions.
Pollination
An enticing illustrated look at pollination, one of the most astonishing marvels of the natural world. Pollination is essential to the survival of most plants on Earth. Some plants rely on the wind to transport pollen from one flower to another. Others employ an array of ingenious strategies to attract and exploit pollinators, whether they be insects, birds, or mammals. This beautifully illustrated book provides an unprecedented look at the wonders of pollination biology, drawing on the latest science to explain the extraordinarily complex relationship between plant and pollinator, and revealing why pollination is vital for healthy ecosystems and a healthy planet.
The creative lives of animals
With examples of the elaborate dams built by beavers or the lavishly decorated bowers of bowerbirds, Gigliotti provides a new perspective on animals as agents in their own lives, as valuable contributors to their world and ours, and as guides in understanding how creativity may contribute to conserving the natural world. Presenting a powerful argument for the importance of recognizing animals as individuals and as creators of a healthy, biodiverse world, this book offers insights into both the established and emerging questions about the creativity of animals.
Self-Organization in Biological Systems
The synchronized flashing of fireflies at night. The spiraling patterns of an aggregating slime mold. The anastomosing network of army-ant trails. The coordinated movements of a school of fish. Researchers are finding in such patterns--phenomena that have fascinated naturalists for centuries--a fertile new approach to understanding biological systems: the study of self-organization. This book, a primer on self-organization in biological systems for students and other enthusiasts, introduces readers to the basic concepts and tools for studying self-organization and then examines numerous examples of self-organization in the natural world.
Urban nature
Breaking Through Concrete
People have always grown food in urban spaces--on windowsills and sidewalks, and in backyards and neighborhood parks--but today, urban farmers are leading an environmental and social movement that transforms our national food system. This book documents twelve successful urban farm programs, from an alternative school for girls in Detroit, to a backyard food swap in New Orleans, to a restaurant supply garden on a rooftop in Brooklyn.
Routledge handbook of urban biodiversity
This handbook provides a state-of-the-art, comprehensive overview of the expanding field of urban biodiversity. The field of urban biodiversity has emerged from within the broad discipline of urban ecology in the past two decades and is now a significant field in its own right. In view of this, the Routledge Handbook of Urban Biodiversity presents a thorough treatment of this field detailing the history of urban biodiversity, theoretical foundations, current state of knowledge, and application of that knowledge.
Bringing Home the Wild
When living in a large sprawling city, one may feel disconnected and adrift. Finding ways to belong and have positive effects is challenging. In Bringing Home the Wild, botanist Juliet C. Stromberg demonstrates how ecologically guided gardening develops a sense of place, restores connections to nature, and brings joy and meaning to our lives.
Designing Urban Agriculture
A comprehensive overview of edible landscapes--complete with more than 300 full-color photos and illustrations Designing Urban Agriculture is about the intersection of ecology, design, and community. Showcasing projects and designers from around the world who are forging new paths to the sustainable city through urban agriculture landscapes, it creates a dialogue on the ways to invite food back into the city and pave a path to healthier communities and environments.
Public Produce
Plum and pear trees shade park benches in Kamloops, British Columbia. Tomatoes and cucumbers burst forth from planters at City Hall in Provo, Utah. Strawberries and carrots flourish along the sunny sidewalks of a Los Angeles neighborhood. Today fruits and vegetables are thriving in parks, plazas, along our streets, and around our civic buildings. Taking readers from inspiration to implementation, Public Produce is chock full of tantalizing images and hearty lessons for bringing agriculture back into our cities.
Urban horticulture: necessity of the future
Urban horticulture is a means of utilizing every little space available in cities amidst buildings and other constructions for growing plants. It utilizes this space to raise gardens that can be economically productive while contributing to environmental greening. It can boost food and ornamental plants production, provide job opportunities, promote green space development, waste recycling, and urban landscaping, and result in improved environment.
Insect life
The art of the bee : shaping the environment from landscapes to societies
The impact of bees on our world is immeasurable. Bees are responsible for the evolution of the vast array of brightly colored flowers and for engineering the niches of multitudes of plants, animals, and microbes. They've painted our landscapes with flowers through their pollination activities and have evolved the most complex societies to aid their exploitation of the environment. The biology of the honey bee is one that reflects their role in transforming environments with their anatomical adaptations and a complex language that together function to exploit floral resources. A complex social system that includes a division of labour builds, defends, and provisions nests containing tens of thousands of individuals, only one of whom reproduces.
Ant Architecture
Many animals, from birds to insects, build structures using wood, soil, or a range other materials. Surprisingly to most people, a similarly diverse array of animal homes exist underground, in the hidden world beneath our feet. This is particularly true for ants who excavate large and complex nests in which they shelter, reproduce and generally go about their lives. Despite the existence of this vast underground world, it has remained largely unexplored. Walter Tschinkel, however, has spent his career researching underground ant nests in his home state of Florida (where they are particularly prevalent) and this book is his story of discovery about what he has learned about these nests and they reveal about ant biology and behavior more broadly.
The Surprising Lives of Bark Beetles
A loving look at one of the world's most maligned, misunderstood, and fascinating insects With science journalist Marc Abrahams, Hulcr offers a funny and informative introduction to these under-studied and underappreciated insects. This lively book turns cutting-edge research into an enjoyable tour through the miniature world of a charming critter. Vivid macrophotography captures every aspect of bark beetle life in stunning detail, from their dramatic family stories and curiously endearing looks to their mating strategies, and the secret fungus farms where they cultivate their own "ambrosia."
Hoverflies of Britain and North-West Europe: a Photographic Guide.
An essential part of our eco-systems, hoverflies are the second most important pollinators after bees but sadly, more than a third of all European species are now under threat of extinction. Written by two leading experts, Hoverflies of Britain and North-west Europe is the first and only photographic field guide to cover all 400 hoverfly species occurring in Britain and neighbouring countries in such detail. Each species account contains a description, population status, ecology and habitat, an up-to-date map of its distribution across North-western Europe, a flight time diagram and guidance on differentiating similar species. There are also detailed illustrations and stunning full-colour macro photographs in each account, showing key features of the species to aid accurate identification.
The Mind of a Bee
A rich and surprising exploration of the intelligence of bees. Most of us are aware of the hive mind--the power of bees as an amazing collective. But do we know how uniquely intelligent bees are as individuals? In The Mind of a Bee, Lars Chittka draws from decades of research, including his own pioneering work, to argue that bees have remarkable cognitive abilities. He shows that they are profoundly smart, have distinct personalities, can recognize flowers and human faces, exhibit basic emotions, count, use simple tools, solve problems, and learn by observing others. They may even possess consciousness.
Wasps
The ultimate visual journey into the beautiful and complex world of wasps. Wasps are far more diverse than the familiar yellowjackets and hornets that harass picnickers and build nests under the eaves of our homes. These amazing, mostly solitary creatures thrive in nearly every habitat on Earth, and their influence on our lives is overwhelmingly beneficial. Wasps are agents of pest control in agriculture and gardens. They are subjects of study in medicine, engineering, and other important fields. Wasps pollinate flowers, engage in symbiotic relationships with other organisms, and create architectural masterpieces in the form of their nests.
Ecology and Conservation of the Dutch Ground Beetle Fauna
Over the past decades, large amounts of data about carabids have been collected in the Netherlands, initially for the purpose of creating distribution maps for the country. In addition to information from collections and faunistic publications, a significant amount of data came from ecological studies using pitfall traps. Because of the rich tradition of carabidological research in the Netherlands, an exceptionally large database of these pitfall data is available. This book presents the story of Dutch ground beetles and illustrates the contribution of pitfall trapping to our understanding of the ecology of this fascinating and unusually well-studied group of beetles.
Wildlife in the natural garden: a journey of discovery
Your very own Eden: Going wild, boosting biodiversity A little unkempt, carelessly graceful and wild at heart: that's how we like our garden(er)s. And that's how a myriad of humming, buzzing and crawling creatures like them too. This book takes you on a garden visit of a very special kind. Through remarkable photographs and in his own distinctive voice, the author takes us on a journey through his natural garden, sharing with us the incredible flora and fauna he discovers along the way.