Microsoft Word - Smith_aridland_proof.docx


   
 

 

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Book Review

 

Aridland Springs in North America: Ecology and Conservation 
 

Lawrence E. Stevens and Vicky J. Meretsky, editors. 2008. The University of Arizona Press and the Arizona‐Sonora 
Desert Museum, Tucson.Pp. 406, 4 black‐and‐white photos, 28 illustrations, 38 tables, 8 maps, bibliography. 
$75.00 (cloth). ISBN 978‐0‐8165‐2645‐1. 
 

Reviewed by Kate Smith 
 
Reviewer Address: 421 W North St, Fayetteville, AR 72701   
teosholo@gmail.com  
 
Received: November 1

st
 2011                                                                                                                                                Volume 3:14‐15                        

Published: March 9
th
 2012                                                                                                                          © 2012 Society of Ethnobiology 

 
In the words of reviewer R. L. Wallace (2009:1535), 
“this volume is a must read for those interested in 
oases or the future of water in the western states.” This 
book represents the combined efforts of twenty-seven 
authors to holistically address the ecology and 
conservation of springs in the arid areas of North 
America.  The authors largely meet these goals, 
gathering their individual expertise and styles to shed 
light on a greater whole. It is always exciting to see a 
book truly embrace the interdisciplinary nature of 
ecology and of conservation efforts, and this book 
manages to do that. Topics covered in the seventeen 
chapters include, but are not limited to, the history of 
springs, groundwater hydrology, ecological case studies, 
conservation efforts, endemic species, anthropogenic 
alterations, conservation laws, ethnoecology, and 
paleobiology.  

The book opens with a foreward by Gary Paul 
Nabhan, who reminds us of the urgency of protecting 
water resources and of how unique aridland springs are. 
The authors of Aridland Springs have provided an 
immensely readable summary of current understanding 
of the springs and the threats to them. The first four 
chapters serve to introduce the readers to aridland 
springs: their historical significance, locations, origins, 
and classification systems. Chapters six through eight 
provide case studies of specific springs ecosystems, 
while nine through eleven address biogeographic 
distributions of vegetation and terrestrial productivity. 
Chapter fourteen predicts how the flora and 
distribution of Great Basin springs will likely change 
with groundwater withdrawal, while chapter fifteen 
examines the recovery of a hanging garden spring after 
accidental human torching of the vegetation. Sixteen 
examines the legal issues of spring conservation and 

seventeen summarizes the current research gaps and 
the conservation challenges still remaining.  

Now, if the reader has been paying attention, he or 
she will realize that chapters five, twelve, and thirteen 
were omitted from that brief summary. That is because 
although the previously mentioned chapters provide 
excellent information, data, research, arguments, and 
more, these three specific chapters specifically focus on 
ethnoecology. Chapter five, written by Vance Haynes, 
examines the paleoecology and paleontology of springs, 
with examples of human use of the aridland springs 
primarily as hunting grounds and many springs likely 
remaining relatively untouched by humans until recent 
history. The springs that do show a long archaeological 
and ethnographic history of human use are addressed 
in chapters twelve and thirteen, which both examine 
the Quitovac and Quitobaquito springs for Holocene 
interactions of humans at the springs. Both authors, 
Nabhan and Amadeo Rea, conclude that the 
indigenous spring management was likely more 
effective at preserving spring function and biodiversity 
than current management practices by the federal 
government. These conclusions are indirectly 
supported by the earlier history of conservation issues 
of the springs provided in chapter two, which stress the 
difficulties in finding a functioning conservation 
strategy for the springs that balances the need for 
disturbance with obliteration of these delicate systems 
in the xeriscape. 

For those interested in applied ethnobiology and 
ethnoecology, books like Aridland Springs in North 
America are gems. The book has combined the works of 
experts in their fields to provide a truly interdisciplinary 
review of the current understanding and value of the 
springs. It documents conservation efforts that have 
been tried, ecological case studies of three types of 



   
 

 

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Book Review

springs, the legalese surrounding the springs, their 
cultural and archaeological significance, and their 
responses to human alterations. The authors have 
reviewed the causes and symptoms of the ongoing 
decline and destruction of the springs, their biotic and 
functional importance, and how different groups of 
people have used the springs in ways that help or hurt 
them. In sum, this book provides an excellent 
interdisciplinary window into the aridland springs of 
North America and is worthy of inclusion in any 
ethnoecologists’ library. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

References Cited 
Stevens, L.E. and V.J. Meretsky, eds. 2008. Aridland 
Springs in North America: Ecology and Conservation. The 
University of Arizona Press and the Arizona-Sonora 
Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ.  

Wallace, R.L. 2009. Review: Aridland Springs in North 
America: Ecology and Conservation. Choice 46:1535.