"To understand the grasslands is to know their worth."
Windswept is a celebration of the subtle beauty and fascinating biology of one of the most threatened large ecosystems on the planet - the grasslands of the Canadian prairies and the northern Great Plains of the United States.
Cradled between the Rocky Mountains to the west and the Canadian Shield to the east, the grasslands both north and south of the border share a common climate, geological history, and wildlife diversity, as recorded in the opening pages of the book.
World-renown natural history writer and wildlife photographer Wayne Lynch describes in detail the evolution and nature of each of five defining grassland habitats - flat to gently rolling plains, sand hills, wooded valleys called coulees, sloughs, and badlands - and the creatures that live there. Written in the informative yet entertaining style that has become his trademark, Lynch's wildlife descriptions, in particular, reflect exciting new discoveries in evolutionary and reproductive biology.
Beautifully illustrated by more than ninety stunning photographs that speak of the visual wonder of the grasslands and its wildlife, this book reveals the grasslands as a landscape of promise and surprise, a mosaic of communities that differ in vegetation and wildlife, and a place where the wind and the pungent smell of pasture sage evoke memories from our unseen past.
Discover the excitement, the diversity, the intricacy, the biology, and the beauty of the northern prairies in Windswept and no doubt you will conclude, as Lynch does, that to allow the grasslands to disappear would be to sacrifice a landscape that raises the quality of life above mere survival.
Lynch is a Fellow of the internationally recognized Explorers Club and Fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America. Lynch lives in Calgary with his wife of twenty-nine years, Aubrey Lang. Wayne Lynch has the rare ability to recognize a great photograph through his camera's viewfinder, as well as to construct a beautiful, illuminating and clear sentence - his love for nature comes through in both of these talents. Windswept provides a splendid non-technical window into the visually simple but ecologically complex Canadian grasslands, which are the best and most extensive surviving examples of these highly threatened North American ecosystems. Although it is easy to recognize a forest's demise after it has been clear-cut and destroyed, prairies often hide the effects of deterioration from overgrazing, alien introductions and biotic disturbance until it is too late to save them. Wayne's book should help to educate the general reader not only to the subtle majesty of the northern plains grasslands but provide an insight into their history, their fascinating denizens, and the importance of working to assure their survival. - Paul A. Johnsgard, Foundation Professor Emeritus, U. of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska
