The time frames studied include the ecology of the earth before human interaction, pre-European human interaction during the rise and fall of agricultural land use, and finally the biological and cultural response to the abandonment of farming, due to complete abandonment or a land-use change such as urbanization.

AUTHORS BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION - CHARLES L. REDMAN, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (CAP LTER)
CHAPTER 1: CHANGING AGRARIAN LANDSCAPES ACROSS AMERICA: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE - KENNETH M. SYLVESTER AND MYRON P. GUTMANN, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN (SHORTGRASS STEPPE LTER)
CHAPTER 2: NEW ENGLANDS FOREST LANDSCAPE: ECOLOGICAL LEGACIES AND CONSERVATION PATTERNS SHAPED BY AGRARIAN HISTORY - DAVID R. FOSTER, BRIAN DONAHUE, DAVE KITTREDGE, GLENN MOTZKIN, BRIAN HALL, BILLIE TURNER, AND ELIZABETH CHILTON, HARVARD UNIVERSITY (HARVARD FOREST LTER)
CHAPTER 3: AGRARIAN TRANSFORMATION OF SOUTHERN APPALACHIA - TED L. GRAGSON, PAUL V. BOLSTAD, AND MEREDITH WELCH DEVINE, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA (COWEETA LTER)
CHAPTER 4: DUSTBOWL LEGACIES: LONG-TERM CHANGE AND RESILIENCE IN THE SHORTGRASS STEPPE - KENNETH M. SYLVESTER AND MYRON P. GUTMANN, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN (SHORTGRASS STEPPE LTER)
CHAPTER 5: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF SW MICHIGAN AGRICULTURE, 1837-2000 - ALAN RUDY, CRAIG HARRIS, BRIAN THOMAS, MICHELLE WOROSZ, SIENA KAPLAN, AND EVANN C. O'DONNELL MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY (KELLOG BIOLIGICAL STATION)
CHAPTER 6: AGRARIAN LANDSCAPE TRANSITION IN THE FLINT HILLS OF KANSAS: LEGACIES AND RESILIENCE - GERAD MIDDENDORF, DERRICK CLINE, AND LEONARD BLOOMQUIST (DECEASED), KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY (KONZA PRAIRIE LTER)
CHAPTER 7: WATER CAN FLOW UPHILL: A NARRATIVE OF CENTRAL ARIZONA - CHARLES L. REDMAN AND ANN P. KINZIG, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (CAP LTER)
CONCLUSION - TED L. GRAGSON, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA (COWEETA LTER)