Eastern Forests is a good field guide for both experts and beginners. Makes a great gift for young naturalists. This book not only provides identification means; it also answers odds and end questions about why plants and animals do different things. Everything from newt behavior to how weather affects bird migration is covered in this guide.

This is a great field guide that covers many aspects of forests East of the Great Plains. Although it covers many common species of both animal and plant, it is not overly helpful for positively identifying individual species; and if one wants that, you are better off with a more specific field guide (i.e., Eastern Birds). It does, however, detail the workings of a forest and accompanies this fascinating text with 53 color plates, 80 color photos and many black and white drawings. In the first few chapters, it demonstrates the different forest types through indicator species; and it details the process of Old Field succesion, and the animals and plants that come and go as the process progresses. In the last chapters adaptation, and seasonal patterns are covered. I would highly reccommend this field guide for any one who would like to know how a forest works.

Once again, Peterson field guides has provided a user-friendly and comprehensive review of the habitats in the Southwest/Rocky Mountain region of North America. As a graduate of the conservation biology program at Arizona State University, I find this guide to be an invaluable field resource and a practical, detailed survey of the habaitat types most commonly encountered in the western region. The ecology concepts are presented in a clear and organized format and the illustrations effectively convey more challenging concepts. I find Peterson's ecology series to be the choice reference guide for students of ecology and conservation and an enriching counterpart to the range of Peterson's field guides.

This field guide to seashores is well explained, especially for beginners encouraged to learn more about the life in tidepools. The color illustrations are also nice and detailed. Buy this one before you start on the original official Peterson Field guides.
Recommened for beginning and intermediate learners.