STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACQUES JANGOUX - RECOMMENDED BOOKS The Tropical Rain Forest: an ecological study by P.W.Richards The classic. Need I say more? Of course much new research has been done since this 1996 second edition. For scientific-minded readers only.
Introduction to BIOMES by Susan L. Woodward Thiss book ist he introduction to a series of books on individual biomes. It presents descriptions of the major biomes of the world, and chapters on ecology, environmental factors etc, covering in an understandable manner (however based on solid scientific facts) the functioning of biomes. It is very helpful to me as a photographer to check the accuracy of my captions. It is useful as a standalone book. I didn´t buy the whole series, but my guess is that anyone interested in more detailed information on a specific biome won´t be disappointed.
A Neotropical Companion by John Kricher I could call this book atravel guide. It is much more than that. Its subtitle., "Anintroduction to the animals, plants, & ecosystems of the New Worldtropics", its 400 pages, and a long bibliography suggests that thisbooks contains solid information for the traveler (or for photographerand the picture researcher as it helps captioning and keywording) basedon scientific research, however easy to read to non-specialists.
The Cerrados of Brazil by Paulo S. Oliveira, Robert J. Marquis Little information is available in English on the savannas of South America. This books,with chapters written by various scientists, starts filling this gapwith an ecological perspective, from the soils to the plant and animalcommunities to the action of fire , the human occupation andconservation. I am using it more as a book to be consulted than as a book toread. When I travel in the Cerrado or when I photograph it, this bookshelps me understand what I see.
Having included galleries on Palms and Begonias, I found it might be useful to add books, both popular and scientific, on these two plant families.
Field Guide to the PALMS of the Americas by Andrew Henderson, Gloria Galeano, & Rodrigo Bernal The introduction gives easy-to-read information on the regions where palms grow. The descriptions are abbreviated scientific, with useful information on range, habitat and uses. Many photographs.
The Palms of the Amazon by Andrew Henderson. Andrew Henderson is a specialist of South American palms at New York Botanical Garden. The introduction to the Amazon region covers from geology and soils to vegetation and human occupation: another introduction is specific to Palms. These introductions are a little more specific than in the previous book, but still readable. The descriptions are scientific. Many illustrations, mostly line drawings; some photographs.
GENERA PALMARUM, A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr. by Natalie W Uhl & John Dransfield 600 pages for hard-core scientists; there are, however, many photographs and line drawings.
BEGONIAS - Cultivation, Identification and Natural History by Mark C. Tebbitt A book written specially for begonia enthusiasts, as it refers only to begonia species (no hybrids or cultivars) cultivated in the United States. There is a small description of begonia habitats and distribution, as well as the characteristics of begonia plants, but the emphasis is on cultivation of 100 selected species; however the description of each species is scientifically correct. The usefulness to me is the photographs, which help in the identification (I had to re-name one of my photographs).
BEGONIACEAE - Part I: Illustrate Key; Part II: Annotated Species List (First edition, 1886) by Lyman B. Smith, Dieter C. Wasshausen, Jack Golding and Carrie E. Karegeannes From the Smithsonian Institution, for hard-core scientists. Plate for each species showing photograph of herbarium specimen or line drawing. BEGONIACEAE, Edition 2 (2002) By Jack Golding and Dieter C. Wasshausen Update of the first edition. Most airports have a newsstand / bookstore; the Brasília airport has, in addition, a university bookstore where I found the following two books in Portuguese, both with numerous photographs.
100 Árvores do Cerrado by Manoel Claudio da Silva Junior Field guide to 100 trees of the Brazilian savannas, each species being illustrated by photographs of the flowers, leaves, bark etc to help identification.
+100 Árvores do Cerrado - Matas de Galeria by Manoel Claudio da Silva Junior, Benedito Alisio da Silva Pereira Continuation of the previous field guide, concentrating on forest galleries species.
CERRADO, espécies vegetais úteis by Semíramis Pedrosa de Almeida, Carolyn Elinore B. Proença, Sueli Matiko Sano, José Felípe Ribeiro Many plants of the savannas of the Brazilian Highlands are used by the local population, as food, medicines, or manufacturing materials. The popular knowledge of plants is extensive. This book gives a glimpse of that knowledge, with more than 400 pages of botanical descriptions and uses, including ecological aspects, chemical analysis etc, with one photograph for each species.
Flores e Fruto do Cerrado Flowers and Fruits of the Cerrado by Carolyn C. Proença, Rafael S. Oliveira, Ana Palmira Silva A nice book to identify flowers. Short introduction both in Portuguese and in English; also a Portuguese-English glossary. Numerous photographs. A nice touch is that the flowers are grouped by color, which makes the use easy.
Fores da Serra da Calçada by Leda Afonso Martens Another abundantly illustrated book with photographs of the flora of a cerrado region of the State of Minas Gerais. I covers not only flowering plants (angiosperms), but also some ferns and lichens, and scenics of the region, including anthropic degradation. A wonderful book.
CERRADO ecologia e caracterização Editores técnicos: Ludmilla Moura de Souza Aguiar, Amabilio José Aires de Camargo Chapters by various authors sobre conclusions of research at the EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisas Agropecuárias). Covers a wide range of topics from biodiversity to human impact to economy. A useful complement in Portuguese to The Cerrados of Brazil described above.
