This field guide to North America's deserts has over 600 gorgeous color photographs, as well as essays and species descriptions relevant to desert habitats. The first essay is about deserts generally, and then there are targeted essays on the Great Basin Desert, the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert, and the Chihuahuan Desert. At the end of each of those essays, there is a list of relevant plants and animals with page numbers beside them to find their entries in the guide.

Information on both plant and animal species includes a description, range, specific habitat, and comments. It is divided into sections: Wildflowers and Mushrooms, Reptlles and Amphibians, Fishes, Trees, Shrubs, Cacti and Grasses, Insects and Spiders, Butterflies and Moths, Mammals, and Birds.

The size of the guide is convenient for carrying around in your backpack while out and about. ( )

Wildflowers, mushrooms, reptiles & amphibians, fishes, trees, shrubs, cacti, grasses,insects, spiders, butterflies, mammals, and birds ! Easy to use, with almost half of the 500 pages devoted to color plates of the species, and various habitat types in the different deserts of North America.

Excellent photographs of plants and animals ( )

This is an introductory illustrated field guide the five deserts in the U.S. It describes the natural history of each one, briefly. Only some of the features, plants, and animals mentioned in the summary of each desert are depicted and/or described. It is a good book for those briefly visiting more than one desert; a longer stay in or a more intimate exploration of any one of them would call for a more focused field guide. It is fine for what it is, but nothing special. The index is superficial. ( )