The silver lining; the benefits of natural disasters - Science - Book Review

REICE, Seth R. The silver lining; the benefits of natural disasters. Princeton Paperbacks. 218p. illus. index. c2001. 0-691-11368-8. $15.95. SA

Watching news coverage of the latest natural "disturbance" such as a hurricane or flood can make even the hardest of hearts more than a little sad. Sudden, apparently random destruction is disturbing and demoralizing. However, as usual, our human view is the short view. Nature, on a grander scale (and even the small scale), is all about change. "Oddly enough the removal of predictable 'disturbances' (e.g., preventing annual spring snowmelt-driven floods or preventing forest fire) often has a greater, more negative impact on the ecosystem than a 'normal' predictable flood or fire. If the spring flood doesn't occur, the building of silt in the gravel bed will diminish the spawning of fish." Forest fires--so hotly debated now by the Forest Service and various environmentalists--also have a role in the normal life of a forest. Even tornadoes produce unexpected positive results. In our efforts to organize the world our way, nature continues to balance things out. Should we work with nature or against it?

Seth R. Reece is an associate professor of biology and ecology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has written a most readable, intriguing and oddly comforting volume about the natural "disasters" of our planet. This enlightening book is recommended for all academic and public libraries and for appropriate government officials.

Katherine E. Gillen, Libn., Luke AFB Lib., AZ

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