About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
High Park, Scarborough Bluffs, the Humber Valley, the Port Lands. These are among the special places of Toronto. Each is a unique ecosystem within the busy urban region. Even though Torontonians think of the city as almost entirely built up, savannah or wetlands are only a subway ride away. Special Places explores the changing ecosystems of the Toronto area over this century, looking at the environmental conditions that influence the whole region and at the surprising range of plants and animals you can still find in many of its natural spaces.
Contributor Notes
Betty Roots and Donald Chant are both Emeritus Professors, Department of Zoology, University of Toronto. Betty Roots was also Director, Life Sciences Division of the Academy of Science, Royal Society of Canada. Conrad Heidenreich teaches in the Department of Geography at York University.
Awards
- Short-listed, Toronto Book Award, City of Toronto
Editorial Reviews
The Royal Canadian Institute's Special Places: The Changing Ecosystems of the Toronto Region unlocks the doors of Toronto's many secret gardens ... Special Places is far more than a benign statement of scientific facts about the Toronto region. It successfully presents both a tool and a challenge for local policy makers and land developers to incorporate into the future development of Toronto.
— Nature Canada
This visually and intellectually attractive volume presents an exquisitely designed natural history of Toronto’s metropolitan area. Elements of the dynamic urban ecosystem are woven together, including vital human and natural environmental components, creating an enlightening depiction of the value of the region’s natural places ... A valuable book for academic audiences.
— Choice
Ideal for anyone in the Greater Toronto Area with an interest in the local environment ... timely ... easy to read.
— Toronto Star
Special Places endears itself further to the reader by ending not only with a sober assessment of the precariousness of the “Evolving Urban Ecology,” but also with some cautiously optimistic conclusions of we continue to care about our “Special Places.”
— Canadian Literature 184, Spring 2005
