This illuminating and instructive book explores New Hampshire's stunning mosaic of natural communities. In photos, drawings, and accessible text, takes you on a tour of landscapes as varied as alpine meadows, tidal marshes, riverbanks, forests, ponds, dunes, and cliffs. Readers will gain a new understanding and appreciation for the state's exceptional natural heritage. Natural communities are recurring associations of plants and animals found in particular physical environments. They are the dynamic habitats in which native species live. Based on more than twenty years of ecological research, the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau developed the classification of the nearly 200 natural community types presented in this essential guide. The communities are organized into eight categories: alpine and subalpine, rocky ground, forests, peatlands, swamps, marshes, river channels and floodplains, and seacoast. With gorgeous photographs, informative text, and recommended places to visit, The Nature of New Hampshire provides an important common language for conservation planning and informed land stewardship. Whether used as a field guide or an at-home resource, this book will help readers reconnect with their surroundings, and understand the places they value.