Centring on South Africa's Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, this book synthesizes a century of insights from the ecology and conservation management of one of Africa's oldest protected wildlife areas. The park provides important lessons for conservation management, as it has maintained conservation values rivalling those of much larger parks sometimes through, and sometimes despite, strong management interventions, including the rescue of the white rhino from extinction. In addition, the book highlights the ecological science produced in the park, much of which has become widely influential, including the megaherbivore concept, new functional approaches to understanding biomes, and new understandings about the role of consumers in shaping ecosystems. The volume is ideal for researchers and policymakers interested in the conservation of relatively small, isolated and protected areas.

'One of the most influential books about the natural world ever published' Paul Kingsnorth, Guardian 'There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot,' begins Aldo Leopold's totemic work of ecological thought. Ranging from lyrical observations of the changing seasons over a year on his Wisconsin farm to his hugely influential idea of a 'land ethic' signifying moral equilibrium between humans and all other life on earth, A Sand County Almanac changed perceptions of the natural world and helped give birth to the modern conservation movement. 'An unequivocal statement of conscience that will carry down the generations ... his argument seems more urgently true now than ever' The New York Times

In the last 50 years marine conservation has grown from almost nothing to become a major topic of global activity involving many people and organisations. Marine conservation activities have been applied to a huge diversity of species, habitats, ecosystems and whole seas. Many marine conservation actions have focused on human impacts on the marine environment from development and pollution to the impacts of fisheries. Whilst science has provided the backbone of thinking on marine conservation, perhaps the biggest change over this period has been the use of an ever-increasing range of techniques and disciplines to further marine conservation ends. Bob Earll explores what marine conservation involves in practice by providing a synthesis of the main developments from the viewpoints of 19 leading practitioners and pioneers who have helped shape its progress and successes. Their narratives highlight the diversity and richness of activity, and the realities of delivering marine conservation in practice with reference to a host of projects and case studies. Many of these narratives demonstrate how innovative conservationists have been - often developing novel approaches to problems where little information and no frameworks exist. The case studies described are based on a wide range of European and international projects. This book takes an in-depth look at the reality of delivering marine conservation in practice, where achieving change is often a complicated process, with barriers to overcome that have nothing to do with science. Marine conservationists will often be working with stakeholders for whom marine conservation is not a priority. This book aims to help readers describe and understand those realities, and shows that successful and inspirational projects can be delivered against the odds.

This book focuses on the effects of industrial effluents, specifically those generated from tanneries, on aquatic life i.e. fish. Readers will learn about the impacts of untreated effluents that find its way into potable water bodies, rivers and lakes. A detailed analysis of the morphological and reproductive responses of fish to Chromium VI, a carcinogen and hazardous metal, will be provided. Particular attention is given to the effects of these effluents on the guppy, a fish used for the biological control of malaria. Students and researchers in environmental science, biology, ecology, marine and freshwater sciences will find the book most appealing. Freshwater ecologists working in the field and managers responsible for the protection and monitoring of natural areas will also find this book interesting.

This book examines the global, local, and specific environmental factors that facilitate illegal fishing and proposes effective ways to reduce the opportunities and incentives that threaten the existence of the world's fish. Humans are deeply dependent on fishing-globally, fish comprise 15 percent of the protein intake for approximately 3 billion people, and 8 percent of the global population depends on the fishing industry as their livelihood. The global fishing industry is plagued by illegal fishing, however, and many highly commercial species, such as cod, tuna, orange roughy, and swordfish, are extremely vulnerable. Through criminological analysis, The Last Fish Swimming emphasizes the importance of looking at specific environmental factors that make illegal fishing possible. It examines such factors as proximity to known ports where illegally caught fish can be landed without inspection (i.e., ports of convenience), fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance efforts, formal surveillance, and resource attractiveness in 53 countries that altogether represent 96 percent of the world's fish catch. The book calls upon the global community to address the illegal depletion of the world's fish stock and other similar threats to the world's food supply and natural environment in order to ensure the sustainability of the planet's fish and continuation of the legal fishing industry for generations to come. Provides a criminological analysis of illegal fishing through the application of two important environmental criminology perspectives (rational choice and situational crime prevention) Highlights the countries most at risk, i.e. hot spots of illegal fishing, and the ports most frequently used to land illegally caught fish Discusses environmental factors that increase or reduce the risk of illegal fishing Includes summary tables on the most vulnerable species and on global, regional, and local factors contributing to illegal fishing Provides a toolbox of empirically founded policy recommendations on how illegal fishing can be stopped

This volume is an interdisciplinary mix of perspectives and studies on social issues in fisheries from a diverse range of case studies and research disciplines. The case is made regarding the dearth of attention to socio-cultural considerations which to date have been largely treated as an externality of fisheries policy. It will be valuable to researchers and decision makers interested in understanding the social dimension of fisheries and provides a timely and relevant compilation of research and analysis on some of the critical socio-cultural issues facing fisheries management and fishing communities today.

Until now, information on mammals in South Asia has never been brought together on a single platform providing all inclusive knowledge on the subject. This book is the most up to date comprehensive resource on the mammalian diversity of South Asia. It offers information on the diversity, distribution and status of 504 species of terrestrial and aquatic mammals found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This work is unique being the first of its kind that deals with diversity and distribution at the subspecies level. The book is divided in to three chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the subject and takes off from the recent works on mammals at the global level, provides an historical perspective on mammal studies in South Asia and concludes with a note on recent phylogenetic changes at supraordinal levels. Chapter 2 summarizes the information on the diversity of South Asian Mammals, provides analysis by country of mammalian diversity (supported by data in tabular form) dealing with species richness, endemism and possibly occurring species, separate analysis for each country with details on endemic and threatened species, extinct mammals, domestic mammals, and finally the IUCN status of mammals with special emphasis on threatened mammals. Chapter 3 is a comprehensive checklist that provides information oneach species, including its scientific name, type details, standardized English name, synonyms, subspecies, distribution and comments on taxonomic status. Country wise listings and analysis of species richness with emphasis on subspecies distribution Most of the analysis is supported by data in tabular forms for better understanding Notes on extinct and domesticated mammals as well as their IUCN Red List Status with criteria for such status A very comprehensive bibliography that would help readers track down specific literature

The book provides the most comprehensive review of lamprey biology since Hardisty and Potter's five-volume "The Biology of Lampreys" published more than 30 years ago. Published in two volumes, it includes contributions from international lamprey experts, reviewing and providing new insights into the evolution, general biology, and management of lampreys worldwide. This first volume offers up-to-date chapters on the systematics, general biology, conservation status, and conservation needs of lampreys. It will serve as an important reference for researchers working on any aspect of lamprey biology and fishery managers whose mandate is to control or conserve lamprey populations.

This book is a multidisciplinary analysis of cultural, regional and economic factors affecting international food trade. Contributions from expert authors illuminate the importance of food culture prevailing in the market as a basis for decisions about food trading. Central concepts include value chains, conventions and public infrastructure and their importance for international trade. The reader is taken into a discussion about cultural and economic contexts which influence local decisions among buyers and manufacturers of seafood and how those contexts mutually influence trade between countries. Chapters investigate the trading pattern of codfish (Bacalao), between Nordic and Iberian countries and discuss how business relations are created and structured. The driving forces behind such patterns and how business relations become habits which are hard to change, are revealed through the research presented. As a multidisciplinary work, this book will have broad appeal. It will be of interest to those exploring cultural, economic and public policy issues associated with food trade, as well as anyone with an interest in the seafood market or the Nordic and Iberian regions.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Antarctica is poised at the edge of a warmer and busier world. Leading Antarctic researchers examine the needs and challenges of Antarctic environmental management today and tomorrow. Through: (i) investigating the impacts of human activities on specific ecosystems and species, (ii) examining existing environmental management and monitoring practices in place in various regions and (iii) interrogating stakeholders, they address the following questions: What future will Business-As-Usual bring to the Antarctic environment? Will a Business-As-Usual future be compatible with the objectives set out under the Antarctic Treaty, especially its Protocol on Environmental Protection? What actions are necessary to bring about alternative futures for the next 50 years? This volume is an outcome of the International Polar Year (2007-2009) Oslo Science Conference (8-12, June, 2010).

This book offers a timely and comprehensive review of essential research on Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus (PPRV), ranging from its historical distribution, molecular epidemiology, genome structure, viral proteins, immunity, viral pathogenesis, clinical and molecular diagnosis to advances in vaccine developments and future challenges. PPRV, a Rinderpest-like virus, is the causative agent of one of the most rapidly emerging viral diseases among domestic small ruminants, and the host spectrum has now been expanded to wild small ruminants and camels. With the global eradication of the first livestock disease, Rinderpest, attention is now turning to repeating the procedure for PPR. Each of the book's 13 chapters is dedicated to a specific topic, providing up-to-date literature and discussions by renowned scientists who have made seminal contributions in their respective fields of expertise. Special emphasis has been placed on the analysis of different global efforts to eradicate PPR. This book offers a valuable reference source for virologists, field veterinarians, infection and molecular biologists, immunologists, scientists in related fields and veterinary school libraries.

Reproductive biology is more than the development of techniques for helping with too little or too much breeding. While some of the relevant techniques are useful for individual species, technical developments have to be backed up by thorough biological understanding of the background behind the problems. This book is therefore threefold; (1) it provides a snapshot of the state of the art in terms of species-specific reproductive technologies, whether for individual animals or whole taxonomic groups; (2) it sets the reproductive problems in context and emphasizes the links between animal-based problems and the wider world, e.g. reproductive fitness and (3) it looks forward and presents realistic assessments of how effective some of the more recently developed techniques in reproductive technology might be at combating extinctions. This is a wide-ranging book that will be relevant to anyone involved in reproductive biology or in species conservation and provides provide them some useful perspectives about the real utility of current and emerging technologies. It has contributions from experts in reproduction and related fields.

The tropical estuarine systems of Mexico and Central America are an important part of the region´s coastlines; for example Mexico alone possesses more than 770 thousand hectares of mangroves, as well as the largest estuarine mangrove complex on the American Pacific (Marismas Nacionales), yet is one of the poorest studied areas in the world. This is the first book that deals extensively with fisheries management issues in this region from physical-chemistry, ecological and socioeconomic views, providing an understanding on the function and the effects of human activities on these areas, with works undertaken by local scientist.

This new book of essays from the author of Wild tracks the turning light of the day and seasons, an almanac of the turning times. Beginning in night and winter, it moves to dawn and spring, then noon and summer and finally evening and autumn. Set partly at the author's home in Wales, the book journeys widely, searching for a dead father in Prague, listening to the Sky-Grandmothers of Mexican myth and staying with the people of West Papua who, when they know they will fall over laughing, lie down first. It asks: what is the real gift of the misunderstood Goddess Nemesis? Why should flowers be prescribed as medicine? What do male zebra finches dream of? Where do the sands of time run fastest, and how is that connected to the age of anxiety? It explores the dawn chorus; the tradition of sacred hospitality; dust from the time before the sun even existed; the twilight time of the trickster and the daily rituals of morning. In all of these it asks: why does light, through the hours of the day and the seasons of the year, affect us? Griffiths concludes this extraordinary collection by deciding that light is in fact how we think.

'London in the Wild is a timely opportunity to get out and explore all the wild spaces and natural places that exist alongside us. Both on your doorstep and on the other side of the river.' - Chris Packham A place of cars, concrete, lights, noise and pollution, London is a harsh, unyielding landscape created to meet the needs of people, not wildlife, but if you take the time to stop and look, you'll discover it is teeming with more than 15,000 species of flora, fungi and fauna, including marsh frogs, hedgehogs, short-eared owls and dragonflies. With London in the Wild as your guide, you can explore the city from your garden, local parks and community space, but also from its wetlands, woodlands and heaths. Along the way you'll discover the best places to see bluebells in springtime, the day-to-day life of a London Tube mouse and the activities of seals who make their home in the Thames.

Sacred Natural Sites are the world's oldest protected places. This book focuses on a wide spread of both iconic and lesser known examples such as sacred groves of the Western Ghats (India), Sagarmatha /Chomolongma (Mt Everest, Nepal, Tibet - and China), the Golden Mountains of Altai (Russia), Holy Island of Lindisfarne (UK) and the sacred lakes of the Niger Delta (Nigeria). The book illustrates that sacred natural sites, although often under threat, exist within and outside formally recognised protected areas, heritage sites. Sacred natural sites may well be some of the last strongholds for building resilient networks of connected landscapes. They also form important nodes for maintaining a dynamic socio-cultural fabric in the face of global change. The diverse authors bridge the gap between approaches to the conservation of cultural and biological diversity by taking into account cultural and spiritual values together with the socio-economic interests of the custodian communities and other relevant stakeholders.

The work summarizes the current knowledge regarding the controlled reproduction of an emerging aquaculture species, the Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis). In great detail it describes and explains the principal of most of the controlled reproductive protocol leading to obtain high quality larvae. The book is primarily intended to be used as a hatchery manual by practicing aquaculturists and laboratory technicians working with this species. On the other hand, it also summarizes the scientific background of the methods applied, therefore, it can serve as a reference for the state-of-the-art in the controlled reproduction of Eurasian perch and other freshwater percid species.

This timely book describes and analyses a neglected area of the history of concern for animal welfare, discussing the ends and means of the capture, transport, housing and training of performing animals, as well as the role of pressure groups, politics, the press and vested interests. It examines primary source material of considerable interdisciplinary interest, and addresses the influence of scientific and veterinary opinion and the effectiveness of proposals for supervisory legislation, noting the current international status and characteristics of present-day practice within the commercial sector. Animal performance has a long history, and at the beginning of the twentieth century this aspect of popular entertainment became the subject not just of a major public controversy but also of prolonged British parliamentary attention to animal welfare. Following an assessment of the use of trained animals in the more distant historical past, the book charts the emergence of criticism and analyses the arguments and evidence used by the opponents and proponents in Britain from the early twentieth century to the present, noting comparable events in the United States and elsewhere.

Beginning with an overview of data and concepts developed in the EU-project HABIT-CHANGE, this book addresses the need for sharing knowledge and experience in the field of biodiversity conservation and climate change. There is an urgent need to build capacity in protected areas to monitor, assess, manage and report the effects of climate change and their interaction with other pressures. The contributors identify barriers to the adaptation of conservation management, such as the mismatch between planning reality and the decision context at site level. Short and vivid descriptions of case studies, drawn from investigation areas all over Central and Eastern Europe, illustrate both the local impacts of climate change and their consequences for future management. These focus on ecosystems most vulnerable to changes in climatic conditions, including alpine areas, wetlands, forests, lowland grasslands and coastal areas. The case studies demonstrate the application of adaptation strategies in protected areas like National Parks, Biosphere Reserves and Natural Parks, and reflect the potential benefits as well as existing obstacles. A general section provides the necessary background information on climate trends and their effects on abiotic and biotic components. Often, the parties to policy change and conservation management, including managers, land users and stakeholders, lack both expertise and incentives to undertake adaptation activities. The authors recognise that achieving the needed changes in behavior – habit – is as much a social learning process as a matter of science-based procedure. They describe the implementation of modeling, impact assessment and monitoring of climate conditions, and show how the results can support efforts to increase stakeholder involvement in local adaptation strategies. The book concludes by pointing out the need for more work to communicate the cross-sectoral nature of biodiversity protection, the value of well-informed planning in the long-term process of adaptation, the definition of acceptable change, and the motivational value of exchanging experience and examples of good practice.

The waters of the Indo-Pacific were at the centre of the global expansion of marine capture fisheries in the twentieth century, yet surprisingly little has been written about this subject from a historical perspective. This book, the first major study of the history of fishing in Asia and Oceania, presents the case-studies completed through the History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP) initiative. It examines the marine environmental history and historical marine ecology of the Indo-Pacific during a period that witnessed the dramatic escalation of industrial fishing in these seas.

This book addresses the impacts of current and future reproductive technologies on our world food production and provides a significant contribution to the importance of research in the area of reproductive physiology that has never been compiled before. It would provide a unique opportunity to separate the impacts of how reproductive technologies have affected different species and their contributions to food production. Lastly, no publication has been compiled that demonstrates the relationship between developments in reproductive management tools and food production that may be used a reference for scientists in addressing future research areas. During the past 50 years assisted reproductive technologies have been developed and refined to increase the number and quality of offspring from genetically superior farm animal livestock species. Artificial insemination (AI), estrous synchronization and fixed-time AI, semen and embryo cryopreservation, multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET), in vitro fertilization, sex determination of sperm or embryos, and nuclear transfer are technologies that are used to enhance the production efficiency of livestock species.

This volume examines fish sounds that have a proven signal function, as well as sounds assumed to have evolved for communication purposes. It provides an overview of the mechanisms, evolution and neurobiology behind sound production in fishes, and discusses the role of fish sounds in behavior with a special focus on choice of mate, sex-specific and age-specific signaling. Furthermore, it highlights the ontogenetic development of sound communication and ecoacoustical conditions in fish habitats and the influence of hormones on vocal production and sound detection. Sound Communication in Fishes offers a must-have compendium for lecturers, researchers and students working in the fields of animal communication, fish biology, neurobiology and animal behavior.

This book sheds new light on the causes and consequences of elephant migration in the Panchet Forest Division of Bankura District in West Bengal, India- an area characterized by fragmented forested landscape modified by agriculture and settlement expansion. Anthropogenic activities result in the decline in quality and coverage of forests, loss of biodiversity and removal of forest corridors which ultimately restrict or modify the movement of elephants causing a forceful change of their habitats. A major objective of this monograph is to identify the characteristics of man-elephant conflicts in terms of land use change, cropping patterns, ecological characteristics of the fragmented dry deciduous forest, trends and patterns of elephant migration, and livelihood patterns of the inhabitants in the affected areas. Readers will discover insights into changes in the behavioral pattern of elephants and local people in the conflict ridden zones, and how this influences food selection. Through this book we also learn about rational management strategies that can be employed on the local and national level to mitigate human-elephant conflicts. Ecologists, landscape conservation planners and environmental managers engaged in the conservation of large vertebrates in fragmenting and human-dominated landscapes will find this book valuable.

The mighty and majestic European bison is the relictual embodiment of the wildness of prehistoric Europe. Tragically, the millennia since that time have seen so many species driven to extinction by human impacts, and the European bison has only narrowly avoided the same fate. Today, the species represents the symbolic sentinel of successful conservation actions in a world in which such achievements remain few and far between. From an early stage in the restitution of the European bison, husband-and-wife team Malgorzata Krasinska and Zbigniew A. Krasinski have been participating in relevant management initiatives and researching all facets of the bison, from its morphology and diet, to its movements, social life and reproduction, and the conservation management actions that have been taken to save it. Now they have summarised this wealth of knowledge on the species, giving rise to a publication ideal for students, professional biologists and conservationists, but also for all nature enthusiasts. This new edition of the monograph offers extensively updated content taking into account research carried out on the European bison in the last few years. Also featured, a new chapter devoted to knowledge of the genetics of the species drawn up by Malgorzata Tokarska of the Bialowieza-based Mammal Research Institute PAS.

In the past, wildlife living in urban areas were ignored by wildlife professionals and urban planners because cities were perceived as places for people and not for wild animals. Paradoxically, though, many species of wildlife thrive in these built environments. Interactions between humans and wildlife are more frequent in urban areas than any other place on earth and these interactions impact human health, safety and welfare in both positive and negative ways. Although urban wildlife control pest species, pollinate plants and are fun to watch, they also damage property, spread disease and even attack people and pets. In urban areas, the combination of dense human populations, buildings, impermeable surfaces, introduced vegetation, and high concentrations of food, water and pollution alter wildlife populations and communities in ways unseen in more natural environments. For these ecological and practical reasons, researchers and mangers have shown a growing interest in urban wildlife ecology and management. This growing interest in urban wildlife has inspired many studies on the subject that have yet to be synthesized in a cohesive narrative. Urban Wildlife: Theory and Practice fills this void by synthesizing the latest ecological and social knowledge in the subject area into an interdisciplinary and practical text. This volume provides a foundation for the future growth and understanding of urban wildlife ecology and management by: * Clearly defining th e concepts used to study and describe urban wildlife, * Offering a cohesive understanding of the coupled natural and social drivers that shape urban wildlife ecology, * Presenting the patterns and processes of wildlife response to an urbanizing world and explaining the mechanisms behind them and * Proposing means to create physical and social environments that are mutually beneficial for both humans and wildlife.