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Life in the Cold: An Introduction to Winter Ecology, fourth edition
Peter J. Marchand’s Life in the Cold remains the one book that offers a comprehensive picture of the interactions of plants and animals―including humans―with their cold-weather environment. Focusing on the problems of “winter-active� organisms, Marchand illuminates the many challenges of sustaining life in places that demand extraordinary adaptations. The fourth edition of this classic text includes a new chapter on climate change and its effects on plants and animals wintering in the North.
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 15, 2015
Make no mistake , this is a textbook with graphs and charts and formulas for things like an animal's heat loss through conduction in various conditions. But it's a very readable book on a fascinating subject. Plants change their internal chemistry to survive sub-zero temperatures. Beavers have adaptive circulation in their tails so they don't lose too much heat when swimming in water close to freezing. In the chapter on humans we learn that we have only a little in the way of physiological adaptation but we find other ways to survive. As the author quotes from the Inuit, the best way to deal with cold weather is to "take care not to be cold".
This fourth edition has an additional chapter on climate change discussing how that effects all those winter adaptations. And does a nice job of explaining how global warming gives the USA more cold and snow.
This fourth edition has an additional chapter on climate change discussing how that effects all those winter adaptations. And does a nice job of explaining how global warming gives the USA more cold and snow.
December 25, 2008
Totally amazing resource on winter ecology. Reads really well for an informative text that could be used for a class.
February 10, 2020
It’s a rare day when I just sit down and read a textbook and yet that is exactly what I did in this case. It is THAT readable. A fantastic resource for understanding the facets of winter ecology from the physical make up of the landscapes to the physiological adaptations of the organisms that inhabit them.
December 22, 2021
Sitting somewhere between popular science and straight-up textbook, Life in the Cold offers an interesting and informative introduction to the science of winter ecology. I read this book very slowly, and it helped with my insomnia many a night.
November 14, 2014
This book is full of supercool information, pun intended. Though an introduction, it covers many sub-topics in surprising depth. Without Marchand's eloquence, the presentation of hundreds of studies could easily have been twice as long and half as intelligible.
That said, this is more of a textbook than a pop-sci read, so the language can be a bit dry, and is best suited to shorter reading sessions. But again, it's quite accessible; unless extremely put off by charts or the occasional simple (and well explained) formula, anyone with interest will be rewarded with some fascinating insights into the interconnected lives of winter-active organisms.
satisfies the curiosity of anyone who's shoveled a walkway and exposed a tiny tunnel system, or examined the density layers in a cross-section of the snowpack. It shows you what's actually happening inside the deciduous trees going dormant, and how the evergreens are affected by and affect their surroundings. And, have you ever watched deer wade through snow at 30 below and wondered why their legs don't fall off? Even if you haven't, the answer is pretty awesome.
Finally, going beyond the image of the polar bear on a shrinking iceberg, a chapter on climate change addresses the disappearance of the very patterns and conditons that shaped cold-climate adaptations, and a few of the the ways life is coping (or not) with their now-foreign landscape. That part's a bit upsetting.
Fish, insects, humans... it's all covered. An eager novice deserves an overview that retains complexity, and Marchand delivers. As the second proper snow of the season approaches, I look forward to winter walks with this read under my belt.
That said, this is more of a textbook than a pop-sci read, so the language can be a bit dry, and is best suited to shorter reading sessions. But again, it's quite accessible; unless extremely put off by charts or the occasional simple (and well explained) formula, anyone with interest will be rewarded with some fascinating insights into the interconnected lives of winter-active organisms.
satisfies the curiosity of anyone who's shoveled a walkway and exposed a tiny tunnel system, or examined the density layers in a cross-section of the snowpack. It shows you what's actually happening inside the deciduous trees going dormant, and how the evergreens are affected by and affect their surroundings. And, have you ever watched deer wade through snow at 30 below and wondered why their legs don't fall off? Even if you haven't, the answer is pretty awesome.
Finally, going beyond the image of the polar bear on a shrinking iceberg, a chapter on climate change addresses the disappearance of the very patterns and conditons that shaped cold-climate adaptations, and a few of the the ways life is coping (or not) with their now-foreign landscape. That part's a bit upsetting.
Fish, insects, humans... it's all covered. An eager novice deserves an overview that retains complexity, and Marchand delivers. As the second proper snow of the season approaches, I look forward to winter walks with this read under my belt.
February 14, 2025
i liked it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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