An excellent quick-study on the basics of ecology — appealing, well organized, gorgeously illustrated. Great classroom and library resource; intended for older children and young adults but an engaging introduction for adults as well. This book was last updated in 2000 and probably could use another update in 2020 to include a few words on climate change and genetic engineering, but it’s still a mostly timely, valid text that left me with a sense of wonder at the intricate, interconnected, marvelous web of life on Earth.
There are now dozens of books in this Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Books series and I think they will become my go-to for an introduction to almost any subject. The publisher is British so a few of the examples (such as “heathland” and “moorland”) may need to be explained to U.S. students in terms of more familiar landscapes, although maybe they have run into those words in the Harry Potter series. In general, examples are given from all over the world, including Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, Antarctica, and the Arctic.