The Naturalists Guide to the Southern Rockies

This excellent book is exactly what its title claims to be: a comprehensive guide to the natural features of the Southern Rockies, an area contained by Colorado and adjacent states. After introductory chapters describing the geography of the region, its geological history over millions of years, and the interaction between the mountains and the global weather, Benedict takes us on a tour through every ecological zone in the region. These chapters, comprising a majority of the book, draw on the general information presented earlier to show how various flora and fauna have adapted to the conditions specific to each zone, and give field guide type information on the species one might encounter.

Benedict's vivid writing style complements the subject beautifully, particularly in the beginnings of the chapters when she is "establishing the scene." At times the reading is a bit of a slog, but this is an expected result of packing a large region's worth of natural history into a guidebook. She also gets a bit jargony, with eccentric (to my ears) phrases such as "global climatic change." But overall, the writing is excellent.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in nature. It's both readable straight-through and, logically organized, usable as a reference.