Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- 1 California Natural History and the Role of Naturalists -- California's Biodiversity -- The Biodiversity Crisis -- A Brief History of Natural History and Naturalists -- Why Be a Naturalist? -- Field Notebook: An Essential Record for Every Naturalist -- The Language of Naturalists -- Getting Out and About -- Explore! -- 2 Geology, Climate, and Soils -- Earth's Formation and Plate Tectonics -- Shaping California -- Rocks in California -- California's Climate -- Diversity of California Microclimates -- Soil Structure and Nutrients -- Nutrient Cycling -- Decomposition -- Mycorrhizal Relationships -- Mining in California -- Explore! -- 3 Water -- Scaling Water: From Molecules to Our Environment -- The Water Cycle -- Stream Processes -- Biological Inputs -- Chemical Inputs -- Physical Inputs -- The Path of a River -- Estuaries -- Intertidal Zone -- Wetlands -- California's Lakes -- California's Freshwater Fish -- Rivers Today -- California Water Management and Law -- Challenges for the Future: Population Growth and Climate Change -- Explore! -- 4 Plants -- Lifestyles of Rich and Famous Plants -- Parts of a Plant -- Plant Communities of California -- Plants and People -- California's Plant Communities and Climate Change -- Explore! -- 5 Forest, Woodland, and Range Resources and Management -- History of California Forests and Their Management -- Forest Dynamics -- California Forests and Wildfire -- Fragmentation of Forests -- Carbon Sequestration -- Rangelands and Livestock Grazing Management -- Conservation Biology -- Explore! -- 6 Animals -- Evolutionary Groups -- Invertebrates -- Vertebrates -- Human Activity and Domestic and Introduced Animals -- Explore! -- 7 Energy and Global Environmental Issues -- Forms and Sources of Energy -- The Energetic Basis of Life -- Energy Use by People.

Global Environmental Challenges -- Explore! -- 8 Interpretation, Collaboration, and Citizen Science -- Interpretation: Why, What, and How -- Collaboration -- Citizen Science -- Explore! -- Glossary -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.