Message from the Editor, Mark C. Belk

For more than 65 years, the Western North American Naturalist, including its predecessor the Great Basin Naturalist, has published research pertaining to the biological natural history of western North America. From northernmost Canada and Alaska to southern Mexico, and from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, western North America encompasses land of incomparable variety and habitat diversity: hot deserts and cold deserts, lush valleys, towering mountains, rivers and streams, sandy beaches, frozen tundra, windswept ridges, alkali flats, tranquil forests, and seemingly endless space. This is Western North American Naturalist country.

Over the years the journal has firmly established itself as a forum for reporting research in natural history topics, both descriptive and analytical. Our goal is not only to continue but to expand this publishing tradition, to push back the frontiers of knowledge in natural history studies for this vast area of North America. We hope the Western North American Naturalist will offer meaningful insights, timely data, and useful research aids to those studying the fascinating and complex field of biological natural history.

Scope

The Western North American Naturalist places neither restriction nor preference on manuscripts within the disciplines of the biological sciences. Ideally, each issue of the journal will feature articles, notes, and book reviews covering diverse topics: plants, vertebrates, invertebrates, insects, ecology, and genetics, for example.

What's New

• 2006-2007 issues available at BioOne  All material from 2006 forward will be available to institutions subscribing to the BioOne services. Articles from 1990 through 2005 are available at the BYU HBLL repository.
• Web-based manuscript tracking.  Beginning in January 2008 WNAN will move to Open Journal Systems software to manage the processes of manuscript submission and review. Please see the "Submissions" page or click on the following link:   https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/ojs/index.php/wnan/index
• Shrews (Eulypotyphla: Soricidae) of Mexico by Leslie N. Carraway.  Order from the "Publications" tab on this web site (Monograph #3).
• Special topics. WNAN welcomes proposals for special issues of the journal that would focus attention on poorly known systems or taxa of the western North American region. Special issues could be done in conjunction with symposia at regional or national meetings or they may consist of a series of invited papers from experts in the field. All papers would be peer-reviewed and edited at the same level as regular submissions. Send proposals directly to the editor (mark_belk@byu.edu).
• Awards. Annually, beginning in 2007, WNAN will recognize the most outstanding natural history paper published during the year. The award will include recognition in the journal and a cash prize.

Publication

The Western North American Naturalist is published quarterly. The cost for subscribers in the United States and Canada is $35 for individuals and $65 for institutions. Individual subscriptions outside the U.S. and Canada are $40; institution subscriptions remain the same. Subscriptions begin with issue 1 and end with issue 4.