{"product_id":"once-a-river-amadeo-m-rea-9780816534814","title":"Once a River: Bird Life and Habitat Changes on the Middle Gila","description":"Like many rivers of the arid Southwest, the Gila is for much of its length a dry bed except after seasonal rains. Yet a mere century ago it hosted a thriving biological community, and two centuries ago American Indians fished from its banks. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It is no mystery how the desert swallowed up the Gila. Beaver trapping, overgrazing, and woodcutting first ruined natural watersheds, then damming confined the last drops of its surface flow. Historical sources and archaeological data inform us of the Gila's past, but its bird life further testifies to the changes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Amadeo Rea traces the decline of bird life on the Middle Gila in a book that addresses the broader issue of habitat deterioration. Bird lovers will find it a storehouse of data on avian migration patterns and on ornithological classification based on skeletal structure. Anthropologists can draw on its Piman ethnoclassification of birds, which links the Gila River tribe with various other Uto-Aztecan peoples of Mexico's west coast. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But for all concerned with protecting our environment, \u003ci\u003eOnce a River\u003c\/i\u003e offers evidence of change that might be apprehended elsewhere. It is a case history of a loss that perhaps need never have occurred.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Amadeo M. Rea\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0816534810\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780816534814\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Arizona Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/18\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 299\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 10.00h x 6.70w x 0.60d","brand":"Amadeo M. Rea","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48447790514431,"sku":"9780816534814","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_23c2f451-5cd3-444f-9e57-39baea49004e.jpg?v=1777234833","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/once-a-river-amadeo-m-rea-9780816534814","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}