These charismatic mammals, which include dogs, cats, hyenas, weasels, mongooses, seals, sea lions and bears, have always held special importance to humans throughout history and continue to do so today. In recent decades, the emergence of new technologies has completely transformed our knowledge of how carnivorans interact with their environments and consequently reshaped our view of carnivoran ecology. This unique synthesis uses examples from a diverse and expanding carnivoran literature, drawing from all carnivoran families and spanning the world's oceans and continents, to produce a clearly written and richly illustrated book that reviews our current state of knowledge of carnivoran ecology. It addresses all levels of biological organization and function, from genes to enzymes, organisms, populations, and ecosystems. Special attention is given to how carnivoran species interact with their prey, each other, and humans. There is an emphasis on community interactions and their importance in carnivoran evolution, showing how evolutionary constraints (morphological, physiological, and behavioral) structure communities today. The book's approach is strongly comparative, contrasting herbivores with carnivores, predators with scavengers, and cats with dogs. Carnivorans play important roles in many high-profile conservation cases, either as species of concern or agents of endangerment, and their importance is demonstrated in both contexts. Carnivoran Ecology is an accessible advanced textbook aimed principally at senior undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in carnivore ecology, as well as a broad audience of professional academics (especially carnivore and mammalian biologists), researchers, and practitioners working in both governmental and non-governmental organizations. A significant secondary market will exist amongst the large amateur naturalist community including those wishing to explore the ecological and evolutionary links between domestic carnivorans (dogs, cats, ferrets etc.) and their wild counterparts.

This book is the fourth in the series of statewise volumes on threatened birds of India, and is largely derived from Threatened Birds of India (2012) by Dr. Asad R. Rahmani, published by BNHS/OUP. Information has been updated according to the latest IUCN 2013 Red List for Birds, incorporating the changes in threat status recommended by BirdLife International, UK. The book describes the threatened and near threatened avian species of the state of Uttar Pradesh, with notes on their distribution, ecology, historical records and current distribution. Based on this updated information, appropriate recommendations have been made regarding the conservation action that needs to be taken for each species. The Introduction has been supplemented with short notes on extinct birds of Uttar Pradesh as well as threatened birds likely to be found in the state. Detailed descriptions are given for the species for which Uttar Pradesh holds critical habitats. Shorter descriptions are given for species marginal to the state. The book is intended to be a handy reference for interested readers, as well as decision makers at the state level, where conservation actions are implemented.

'A delight' Hugh Warwick, ecologist and author of A Prickly Affair 'Hilarious and heartbreaking' Lee Schofield, author of Wild Fell 'A necessary nature book.' John Lewis-Stempel 'A triumph' Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild, Being a Human and A Little Brown Sea Hedgehogs are disappearing. Their numbers are estimated to have halved in less than twenty years. Why? Who could possibly have it in for the hedgehog when in poll after poll they come out top as our favourite mammal. Is it the car driver, the badger, the farmer, or the gardener? Magnifying glass in hand, Tom Moorhouse investigates the evidence. On a vital mission to bring those responsible to justice, prevent further murder and save a species, he uncovers a story full of twists, turns and uncomfortable truths about the trade-offs that exist between humans and wildlife. And then thankfully he provides solutions. A final chapter equips the reader with the toolkit required to try and coax our beloved hedgehogs back.

The habitats of most species have been fragmented by human actions, isolating small populations that consequently develop genetic problems. Millions of small, isolated, fragmented populations are likely suffering from inbreeding depression and loss of genetic diversity, greatly increasing their risk of extinction. Crossing between populations is required to reverse these effects, but managers rarely do so. A key reason for such inaction is that managers are often advised to manage populations in isolation whenever molecular genetic methods indicate genetic differences among them. Following this advice will often doom small populations to extinction when the habitat fragmentation and genetic differences were caused by human activities. A paradigm shift is required whereby evidence of genetic differentiation among populations is a trigger to ask whether any populations are suffering genetic problems, and if so, whether they can be rescued by augmenting gene flow. Consequently, there is now an urgent need for an authoritative practical guide to facilitate this paradigm shift in genetic management of fragmented populations.

The landscapes of Madagascar have long delighted zoologists, who have discovered, in and among the island's baobab trees and thickets, a dizzying array of animals, including something approaching one hundred species of lemur. Madagascar's mammal fauna, for example, is far more diverse, and more endemic, than early explorers and naturalists ever dreamed of. But in the 2,500 or so years since the arrival of the island's first human settlers, the vast majority of its forests have disappeared, and in the wake of this loss a number of species unique to Madagascar have vanished forever into extinction.
In "Extinct Madagascar," noted scientists Steven M. Goodman and William L. Jungers explore the recent past of these land animal extinctions. Beginning with an introduction to the geologic and ecological history of Madagascar that provides context for the evolution, diversification, and, in some cases, rapid decline of the Malagasy fauna, Goodman and Jungers then seek to recapture these extinct mammals in their environs. Aided in their quest by artist Velizar Simeonovski's beautiful and haunting paintings--images of both individual species and ecosystem assemblages reproduced here in full color--Goodman and Jungers reconstruct the lives of these lost animals and trace their relationships to those still living.
Published in conjunction with an exhibition of Simeonovski's paintings set to open at the Field Museum, Chicago, in the fall of 2014, Goodman and Jungers's awe-inspiring book will serve not only as a sobering reminder of the very real threat of extinction, but also as a stunning tribute to Madagascar's biodiversity and a catalyst for further research and conservation.

The second edition of this widely cited textbook continues to provide a concise but comprehensive introduction to cave and subterranean biology, describing this fascinating habitat and its biodiversity. It covers a range of biological processes including ecosystem function, evolution and adaptation, community ecology, biogeography, and conservation. The authors draw on a global range of examples and case studies from both caves and non-cave subterranean habitats. One of the barriers to the study of subterranean biology has been the extraordinarily large number of specialized terms used by researchers; the authors explain these terms clearly and minimize the number that they use. This new edition retains the same 10 chapter structure of the original, but the content has been thoroughly revised and updated throughout to reflect the huge increase in publications concerning subterranean biology over the last decade.

There is a growing concern that many important ecosystems, such as coral reefs and tropical rain forests, might be at risk of sudden collapse as a result of human disturbance. At the same time, efforts to support the recovery of degraded ecosystems are increasing, through approaches such as ecological restoration and rewilding. Given the dependence of human livelihoods on the multiple benefits provided by ecosystems, there is an urgent need to understand the situations under which ecosystem collapse can occur, and how ecosystem recovery can best be supported. To help develop this understanding, this volume provides the first scientific account of the ecological mechanisms associated with the collapse of ecosystems and their subsequent recovery. After providing an overview of relevant theory, the text evaluates these ideas in the light of available empirical evidence, by profiling case studies drawn from both contemporary and prehistoric ecosystems. Implications for conservation policy and practice are then examined.

Canada is one of the most beautiful, varied, and inspiring natural environments on earth. Few countries contain such topographical differences as the West Coast, the mountain regions, the prairies, the Arctic, the cityscapes close to the American border, and the eastern forests. The Canadian territory is the second largest in the world, and it borders on three oceans--its fourth border is with the United States, the most powerful economy in the world. This provides Canadians unique access to a large market, but also raises many problems related not only to political and cultural influence, but to transborder pollution.

This book investigates the complexities of Canadian environmental policy. The text is split into three sections: the political context in which decisions are made; issue areas in need of engagement; and perspectives on the achievement of sustainable development, which colour the Canadian conceptual landscape.

The first section outlines the state of the Canadian environment, the actors and institutions involved in environmental policy formation (and a detailed history of Environment Canada), and the international context of modern decision-making. The second section is issue-specific, including chapters on environmental law, risk management and environmental impact assessment, international treaties and conventions involving Canada, and an overall assessment of Canadian policy. The final section deals with values and theories, from gender issues to environmental ethics. The book serves as a comprehensive introduction that makes explicit recognition of the transnational character of environmental policy formation in the era of globalization, and offers critical insights into the decision-making process.

In telling the amazing story of how life on earth came to be so diverse, distinguished scientist Edward O. Wilson defined a new environmental ethic – our obligation to conserve ecosystems, not simply individual species. In an extensive new foreword to this classic work, he assesses the continuing threat that human activity poses to the Earth’s rich biodiversity and, most importantly, explains why we should care.

The badgers of Wytham Woods (Oxford, UK) have been studied continuously and intensively by David Macdonald for almost 50 years (25 of them with his former student and co-author Chris Newman), generating a wealth of data pertaining to every facet of their ecology and evolution. Through a mix of accessible, highly readable prose and cutting-edge science, the authors weave a riveting scientific story of the lives of these intriguing creatures, highlighting the insights offered to science more broadly through badgers as a model system. They provide a paradigm - from population down to molecule - for a deeper understanding of mammalian behaviour, ecology, epidemiology, evolutionary biology, and conservation. The real value of this long-term study is particularly apparent with current and globally relevant challenges such as climate change, disease epidemics, and senescence. This unique dataset enables us to examine these issues in a context that only a half-century experiment can reveal. The Badgers of Wytham Woods will appeal to a broad audience of professional academics (especially carnivore and mammalian biologists), researchers and students at all levels, governmental and non-governmental wildlife bodies, and to the natural historian fascinated by wild animals and the remarkable processes of nature they exemplify.

The Jarawa, one of the oldest tribes of human beings in the world, may go extinct because of a road that runs through pristine forests in the Indian-administered Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, and no one seems to care. Tourists take the road each day to try and get selfies with the tribespeople, who came from what is now Botswana over 60,000 years ago. Once proud of their independence, the Jarawa are now tempted with biscuits and trinkets, as if they were exotic animals in a human safari park. They can’t survive like this. In this astonishing book, Jonathan Lawley returns to what was once a penal colony built by the British to house Indian mutineers. He asks what responsibility colonial administrators like his grandfather may have had for the sad plight of these palaeolithic hunter- gatherers, and what the Indian government should now be doing to protect them.

From foraging patterns in a single tree to social interactions across a home range, how primates use space is a key question in the field of primate behavioral ecology. Drawing on the latest advances in spatial analysis tools, this book offers practical guidance on applying geographic information systems (GIS) to central questions in primatology. An initial methodological section discusses niche modelling, home range analysis and agent-based modelling, with a focus on remote data collection. Research-based chapters demonstrate how ecologists apply this technology to a suite of topics including: calculating the intensity of use of both range and travel routes, assessing the impacts of logging, mining and hunting, and informing conservation strategies.

Wood ants play an ecologically dominant and conspicuous role in temperate boreal forests, making a keystone contribution to woodland ecosystem functions and processes. Wood ant taxonomy and global distributions set the scene for this text's exploration of wood ants as social insects, examining their flexible social structures, genetics, population ecology, and behaviour, from nest-mate recognition to task allocation. Wood ants' interactions with their environment and with other organisms are essential to their success: competition, predation and mutualism are described and analysed. Bringing together the expertise of ecological researchers and conservation practitioners, this book provides practical and theoretical advice about sampling and monitoring these insects, and outlines the requirements for effective conservation. This is an indispensable resource for wood ant researchers, entomologists, conservationists and ecological consultants, as well as anyone interested in social insects, keystone species and the management and conservation of forest ecosystems.

The Canary Islands is a popular destination for birders and travellers with an interest in wildlife and nature, and one of the best places in the world to see several scarce species such as the Houbara Bustard. They also hold a number of endemic birds that occur nowhere else, such as the emblematic Blue Chaffinch.

This beautifully illustrated guide covers all the birds found in the islands, providing concise descriptions for easy identification and plates for easy identification of all species. It's the perfect guide for any visitor to these sun-kissed islands.

The idea that a bird is good news and needs all our support is probably the only thing amateur birdos, professional zoologists and 'birdscapers'—people who redesign their gardens to support birdlife—have in common. But together they form a conservation community that cares about the future of birds and their habitats, who are working to heal the damage wrought by those who don't notice birds.What Birdo is That? reveals how bird-people in Australia have gone about their craft across the years. Its stories come from wild places — at sea as well as on the land—from dusty archives, from restoration projects, gardens and urban wastelands. They are human stories, but the birds themselves interject and interrupt any self-important anthropocentrism. They educate. They counter the imperialism of the ever-expanding economies of the new millennium. They turn up in unexpected places, giving surprise and joy. This field guide to Australia's bird-people provides a basis for understanding the complex relationship between people and birds in a land of extremes at the forefront of changing climate and habitats.

Since the release of the documentary Blackfish in 2013, millions around the world have focused on the plight of the orca, the most profitable and controversial display animal in history. Yet, until now, no historical account has explained how we came to care about killer whales in the first place. Drawing on interviews, official records, private archives, and his own family history, Jason M. Colby tells the exhilarating and often heartbreaking story of how people came to love the ocean's greatest predator. Historically reviled as dangerous pests, killer whales were dying by the hundreds, even thousands, by the 1950s-the victims of whalers, fishermen, and even the US military. In the Pacific Northwest, fishermen shot them, scientists harpooned them, and the Canadian government mounted a machine gun to eliminate them. But that all changed in 1965, when Seattle entrepreneur Ted Griffin became the first person to swim and perform with a captive killer whale. The show proved wildly popular, and he began capturing and selling others, including Sea World's first Shamu. Over the following decade, live display transformed views of Orcinus orca. The public embraced killer whales as charismatic and friendly, while scientists enjoyed their first access to live orcas. In the Pacific Northwest, these captive encounters reshaped regional values and helped drive environmental activism, including Greenpeace's anti-whaling campaigns. Yet even as Northwesterners taught the world to love whales, they came to oppose their captivity and to fight for the freedom of a marine predator that had become a regional icon. This is the definitive history of how the feared and despised "killer" became the beloved "orca"-and what that has meant for our relationship with the ocean and its creatures.

In the tradition of Stephen Jay Gould, H. H. Shugart entertains and enlightens with parables from the amazing world of birds and mammals Although people have been altering earth's landscapes to some extent for tens of thousands of years, humankind today is causing massive changes to the planet. Such widespread environmental change is accompanied by accelerating rates of species extinction. In this book, noted ecologist H. H. Shugart presents important ecological concepts through entertaining animal parables. He tells the stories of particular birds and mammals-the packrat, ivory-billed woodpecker, penguin, dingo, European rabbit, and others-and what their fates reveal about the interactions between environmental change and the extinctions or explosions of species populations. Change is the root of many planetary problems, but it is also an intrinsic feature of our living planet. Shugart explores past environmental change, discusses the non-existence of a "balance of Nature," and documents how human alterations have affected plants, soils, and animals. He looks with hope toward a future in which thoughtful people learn-and use-ecological science to protect the landscapes upon which terrestrial creatures depend.

This book offers a comprehensive review of the biology of snakes, focusing on Italian species. The snakes of Italy belong to the two families Colubridae and Viperidae, and for each species the systematic classification and chorology including distribution maps are presented. Furthermore, readers will learn how to carry out field studies, how to handle snakes and how to photograph them. The book concludes with a chapter on the iconography of historical Italian snakes and their importance in popular science, and one on myths and legends. This SpringerBriefs volume will appeal to herpetologists and technical staff. The section on iconography may also be of interest to museum staff.

Once described by the actress, Joanna Lumley, as "the man with no fear", Tristan Voorspuy spent his whole life living up to the legend. Early stints in Northern Ireland and Germany with the Blues and Royals regiment were but a precursor to a life defined by his love of Africa, a life cut tragically short in 2017 on his beloved game reserve, Sosian. From his epic motorbike ride from Cairo to Cape Town, to extraordinary wildlife encounters and many death-defying light aircraft near misses, Life on the Edge paints a picture of a man determined to live life to the full. It is also the story of compassion, conservation and, ultimately, tragedy. In the last two decades of his life, Voorspuy transformed the overgrazed and drought-blighted Sosian ranch in Northern Kenya into a celebrated game reserve, acclaimed tourist destination and successful cattle ranch. True to form, it was whilst defending this property that an unarmed Tristan, on horseback, was gunned down and killed, a murder that sent shockwaves around the world.

Notwithstanding the importance of modern technology, fieldwork remains vital, not least through helping to inspire and educate the next generation. Fieldwork has the ingredients of intellectual curiosity, passion, rigour and engagement with the outdoor world - to name just a few. You may be simply noting what you see around you, making detailed records, or carrying out an experiment; all of this and much more amounts to fieldwork. Being curious, you think about the world around you, and through patient observation develop and test ideas. Forty contributors capture the excitement and importance of fieldwork through a wide variety of examples, from urban graffiti to the Great Barrier Reef. Outdoor learning is for life: people have the greatest respect and care for their world when they have first-hand experience of it. The Editors are donating all royalties due to them to the environmental charity, The Field Studies Council, to support student fieldwork at the Council's field centres.

A lyrical celebration of birdsong, and the rekindling of a deep passion for nature. 'At this time of year, blackbirds never simply fly: instead, like reluctantly retired officers, they're always "on manoeuvres", and it's easy to see from their constant agitation that for them every flower bed is a bunker, every shed a redoubt and every hedge-bottom a potential place of ambush' As the world went silent in lockdown, something else happened; for the first time, many of us started becoming more aware of the spring sounds of the birds around us. Birdsong in a Time of Silence is a lyrical, uplifting reflection on these sounds and what they mean to us. From a portrait of the blackbird - most prominent and articulate of the early spring singers - to explorations of how birds sing, the science behind their choice of song and nest-sites, and the varied meanings that people have brought to and taken from birdsong, this book ultimately shows that natural history and human history cannot be separated. It is the story of a collective reawakening brought on by the strangest of springs.

Beavers are represented by two extant species, the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) and the North American beaver (Castor canadensis); each has played a significant role in human history and dominated wetland ecology in the northern hemisphere. Their behaviour and ecology both fascinate and perhaps even infuriate, but seemingly never fail to amaze. Both species have followed similar histories from relentless persecution to the verge of extinction (largely through hunting), followed by their subsequent recovery and active restoration which is viewed by many as a major conservation success story. Beavers have now been reintroduced throughout Europe and North America, demonstrating that their role as a keystone engineer is now widely recognised with proven abilities to increase the complexity and biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems. What animals other than humans can simultaneously act as engineers, forest workers, carpenters, masons, creators of habitats, and nature managers? Over the last 20 years, there has been a huge increase in the number of scientific papers published on these remarkable creatures, and an authoritative synthesis is now timely. This accessible text goes beyond their natural history to describe the impacts on humans, conflict mitigation, animal husbandry, management, and conservation. Beavers: Ecology, Behaviour, Conservation, and Management is an accessible reference for a broad audience of professional academics (especially carnivore and mammalian biologists), researchers and graduate students, governmental and non-governmental wildlife bodies, and amateur natural historians intrigued by these wild animals and the extraordinary processes of nature they exemplify.

An Anthropogenic Table of Elements provides a contemporary rethinking of Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table of elements, bringing together "elemental" stories to reflect on everyday life in the Anthropocene. Concise and engaging, this book provides stories of scale, toxicity, and temporality that extrapolate on ideas surrounding ethics, politics, and materiality that are fundamental to this contemporary moment. Examining elemental objects and forces, including carbon, mould, cheese, ice, and viruses, the contributors question what elemental forms are still waiting to emerge and what political possibilities of justice and environmental reparation they might usher into the world. Bringing together anthropologists, historians, and media studies scholars, this book tests a range of possible ways to tabulate and narrate the elemental as a way to bring into view fresh discussion on material constitutions and, thereby, new ethical stances, responsibilities, and power relations. In doing so, An Anthropogenic Table of Elements demonstrates through elementality that even the smallest and humblest stories are capable of powerful effects and vast journeys across time and space.

The global loss of biodiversity is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Despite the considerable effort devoted to conservation science and management, we still lack even the most basic data on the distribution and density of the majority of plant and animal species, which in turn hampers our efforts to study changes over time. In addition, we often lack behavioural data from the very animals most influenced by environmental changes; this is largely due to the financial and logistical limitations associated with gathering scientific data on species that are cryptic, widely distributed, range over large areas, or negatively influenced by human presence. To overcome these limitations, conservationists are increasingly employing technology to facilitate such data collection. Innovative solutions have been driven by dramatic advances in the conservation-technology interface. The use of camera traps, acoustic sensors, satellite data, drones, and computer algorithms to analyse the large datasets collected are all becoming increasingly widespread. Although specialist books are available on some of these individual technologies, this is the first comprehensive text to describe the breadth of available technology for conservation and to evaluate its varied applications, bringing together a team of international experts using a diverse range of approaches. Conservation Technology is suitable for graduate level students, professional researchers, practitioners and field managers in the fields of ecology and conservation biology.