One Night in the Everglades
By (author) Ph. D. Larsen Illustrated by Joyce Mihran Turley
Publication date:
16 August 2012Length of book:
32 pagesPublisher
Taylor Trade PublishingISBN-13: 9780981770048
Follow two scientists as they spend a night in the Everglades collecting water samples, photographing wildlife, and sloshing through marshes in an attempt to understand this mysterious ecosystem. Part of a long-term effort to return the Everglades to a natural state after a century of development, the scientists try to figure out what the “river of grass” was like prior to human settlement. Along the way, they deal with razor-sharp sawgrass and alligators and turtles and are even surprised by the sudden presence of what is known in the Everglades as a “frog gigger”—one who hunts and collects frogs for food!
Published in cooperation with the Long Term Ecological Research Network, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Published in cooperation with the Long Term Ecological Research Network, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.
An ecologist records a typical “research night” in Florida’s Everglades, using her own experiences to paint a picture of this unique geological/biological habitat. Larsen’s informative text records the efforts of scientists “Laurel” and “Dan” to evaluate water quality and flow, measure peat layers and sediment rates, photograph “floc” and zooplankton, and collect water samples from a tiny research platform in the heart of the ‘Glades. Slathered in mosquito repellent, they spend a night under the stars, working on their projects and enjoying the wildlife in this wide ecosystem (except for said mosquitoes). Larsen defines unfamiliar terms in the margin and includes snips of data. All is illuminated by Turley’s colorful, full-page illustrations of such sights as airboats, birds, alligators, and a sunrise, and some smaller details of bladderworts, crayfish, and the like. Team this title with Jeff Corwin’s photo-full Jeff Corwin: The Extraordinary Everglades (Grossett & Dunlap, 2010) and Wayne Lynch’s anecdote-graced The Everglades (NorthWorld, 2007) for a clear look at the endangered “River of Grass."