The Living Deserts of Southern Africa
BOOK LAUNCH
Barry Lovegrove in conversation with Duncan McFadyen now on YouTube.
The Living Deserts of Southern Africa:
Three Decades of Change Presentation
Dr Barry Lovegrove.
The Living Deserts or Southern Africa (Fernwood Press) was published in 1993, and has been out of print for more than a decade.
REVISED EDITION NOW AVAILABLE ….
A revised version will be released in September 2021 by Penguin Random House (Struik Nature, Cape Town)
NOW AVAILABLE …. OCTOBER 2021
The Living Deserts or Southern Africa
For generations the deserts of southern Africa have fascinated scientists and travellers alike. They teem with life - from ants to elephants, stone plants and colourful daisies to the curious welwitschia, dainty dik-diks to towering gemsbok, and cart-wheeling spiders to fog-basking beetles, all survive against the odds in the fragile desert ecosystem. How do they cope with scarce resources, unpredictable rainfall and extreme temperatures, and how do they protect themselves against predators while also ensuring species survival?
In this fully revised and updated edition, Barry Lovegrove unravels many of the mysteries associated with life in the region's four desert biomes: Desert, Arid Savanna, Succulent Karoo and Nama-Karoo. He explains how and why such a great diversity of plants and insects, mammals, reptiles and birds successfully exist in these regions, illustrating many of his examples with spectacular photographs, supported by diagrams and maps.
Drawing on the latest scientific research, the text is designed and presented in a highly readable style, and accessible to both the serious student and academic as well as the interested nature lover. The book is as much a plea for sensible management of these sensitive areas as it is a fount of fascinating information.
