Rarely visited by outsiders, the ranchers of Sierra de la Giganta in Baja California Sur live much as their ancestors have for the past two centuries. They raise goats and cattle and grow a magnificent variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers in one of the driest places on the continent. The men, women, and children depicted in this book have never known the luxury of municipal water or electricity on their ranches. Yet, as Marchand's photographs show, they are remarkably self-sufficient in their use of technologies that would be considered archaic by most standards today. Some ranches now have solar panels, generators, a light bulb or two, a radio or TV, and, most recently, a cell phone charger. But water is supplied either by gravity or a gasoline-powered pump (though windmills still turn at some ranches), cooking is most often by wood fire, machaca is ground on a stone metate or pounded on a stump, and coffee is ground in a hand-cranked mill. Plowing is still done mostly with mules, and planting, harvesting, and milking are all done by hand.

The Bare-toed Vaquero: Life in Baja California's Desert Mountains

History

Marchand, Peter J.

Americas

University of New Mexico Press

Peter Marchand believes that winter is unfairly misunderstood, a season associated with "stillness, darkness, and death." Yet as each spring affirms, living things somehow manage to reappear. Since 1987, when the first edition appeared and was chosen by Library Journal as one of the year's 101 Best Sci-Tech Books, Marchand has been treating thousands of readers to a winter world that is very much alive. Now in this enlarged third edition, he offers a brand new chapter adding complete information on three major animal groups: northern cervids (deer, elk, moose, and caribou); semiaquatic mammals (beaver, otter, mink, and muskrat); and gallinaceous birds (grouse and ptarmigan). Experts and novices alike will find Life in the Cold indispensable and enjoyable.

Life in the Cold: An Introduction to Winter Ecology

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Univ Pr of New England

Sports & Outdoors

Autumn: A Season of Change

An expert on winter now turns his talents to autumn, a season of beauty and change. Author of the award-winning Life in the Cold, Peter J. Marchand examines the natural and biological phenomena of fall. With Marchand as your guide, fall becomes much more than trees turning, killing frosts, birds migrating, and invigorating crisp weather. Dig under the fallen leaves and heavy mists with him to discover a vibrant world. Readers learn the whys and wherefores of these events, but much much more, as Marchand answers questions most non-specialists have about how and why such changes and adaptations occur. Though autumn may appear to be primarily a transitional season, he shows how many remarkable and essential natural processes happen routinely only during this period. He describes such topics as timekeeping in plants and animals, food hoarding, seed dispersal, and animal mating behavior among the large mammals of the North. The book is organized by theme rather than by species, so that similar adaptation mechanisms of different species can be compared and contrasted. Marchand has a demonstrated skill in making scientific facts easily understood, while also conveying the beauty and wonder of what he describes. Also an accomplished photographer, his many beautiful full-page photographs show unusual aspects of the season.

Remembering the Beja Nomads: in a Time of Turmoil

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Ripple Effect Publishing LLC

When Richard Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971, eighty million acres were flagged as possible national park land. Field expeditions were tasked with recording what was contained in these vast acres. Under this decree, five men were sent into the sprawling, roadless interior of Alaska, unsure of what they’d encounter and ultimately responsible for the fate of four thousand pristine acres. Life and Times of a Big River follows Peter J. Marchand and his team of biologists as they set out to explore the land that would ultimately become the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. Their encounters with strange plants, rare insects, and little-known mammals bring to life a land once thought to be static and monotonous. And their struggles to navigate and adapt to an unforgiving environment capture the rigorous demands of remote field work. Weaving in and out of Marchand's narrative is an account of the natural and cultural history of the area as it relates to the expedition and the region’s Native peoples. Life and Times of a Big River chorincles this riveting, one-of-a-kind journey of uncertainty and discovery from a disparate (and at one point desperate) group of biologists.

Life and Times of a Big River: An Uncommon Natural History of Alaska's Upper Yukon

University of Alaska Press

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.

Life in the Cold: An Introduction to Winter Ecology, fourth edition

University Press of New England

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Books by Marchand, Peter J.