Bats are highly charismatic and popular animals that are not only fascinating in their own right, but illustrate most of the topical and important concepts and issues in mammalian biology. This book covers the key aspects of bat biology, including evolution, flight, echolocation, hibernation, reproduction, feeding and roosting ecology, social behaviour, migration, population and community ecology, biogeography, and conservation.
This new edition is fully updated and greatly expanded throughout, maintaining the depth and scientific rigour of the first edition. It is written with infectious enthusiasm, and beautifully illustrated with drawings and colour photographs.

`Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away ... God has cared for these trees ... but he cannot save them from fools - only Uncle Sam can do that.' First published in 1901, Our National Parks is possibly the bestselling book of John Muir's wilderness-discovery titles and was certainly the most influential published in his lifetime, with a strong focus on the preservation of forest reserves. With a strong political tone and shrewd, subtle manoeuvring, Muir uses Our National Parks to persuade his readership of the necessity of nature and national parks for human recreation and more importantly for health and wellbeing, as well as the - in his mind - obvious need for preservation of wild ecosystems. Cannily he counterbalances this with the acknowledgement of the need for timber and irrigation systems, in order that his message is taken seriously; Muir's passion is portrayed so vividly and flamboyantly that without his learned political and scientific reinforcement, he could be misconstrued as purely a radical and eccentric nonconformist. However, the two combined result in an engaging and convincing argument that these landscapes are our `natural home', and `fountains of life'. As Muir expert Terry Gifford observes in the foreword, `Muir's tone can shift in this book from seductive persuasion, to charming details of creatures, flora and landscapes, to scientific information, to trail guide, to religious uplift, to a final political speech of startling ferocity.' John Muir's strategic yet genuine and beautiful conservationist essays were a first at the time of publication, and are still highly applicable to our attitudes and lifestyles today in the twenty-first century.

Wild salmon, trout, char, grayling, and whitefish (collectively salmonids) have been a significant local food and cultural resource for Pacific Northwest peoples for millennia. The location, size, and distribution of urban areas along streams, rivers, estuaries, and coasts directly and indirectly alter and degrade wild salmonid populations and their habitats. Although urban and exurban areas typically cover a smaller fraction of the landscape than other land uses combined, they have profound consequences for local ecosystems, aquatic and terrestrial populations, and water quality and quantity.

The authors investigated how changing the magnitude and timing of water release in a regulated reservoir impacted macrobenthic invertebrates communities within Voyageurs National Park (VOYA), Minnesota with a before-after control-impact approach, using both multi- and univariate response measures to simultaneously compare impacts on macroinvertebrates across both time and treatment.

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.

'When a man plants a tree, he plants himself. Every root is an anchor, over which he rests with grateful interest, and becomes sufficiently calm to feel the joy of living.' Steep Trails encompasses a delightful mix of John Muir's essays and adventure narratives, spanning a period of twenty-nine years. The selections included in this book are varied: ranging from geological studies to stories of the people and towns he encounters throughout his exploits. As Muir expert Terry Gifford observes in the foreword, 'Most of Steep Trails' chapters are dispatches from Muir as travelling correspondent with a mixture of insights into local cultures, criticism of pollution and enthusiasm for everything wild.' Muir's refreshing philosophy of being 'at one' with nature shines through every account he details, as does his agenda for environmental activism - to treat wildness lovingly, rather than selfishly for material greed. Covering mostly the western regions of the states, California, Washington, Nevada, The Grand Canyon, Oregon and Utah; Steep Trails showcases Muir's passion continuously as he climbs mountains, bathes in lakes, and sketches his findings. Muir's classic extended metaphors and knowledgeable tone are present throughout, making for both an enjoyable and educational read. The enthusiasm contained within these pages is infectious, and as well as simply describing the beauty he sees, Muir will inspire you too, to 'go and see for yourselves' the rewards of studying the endless gift of nature: 'Surely faithful and loving skill can go no farther in putting the multitudinous decorated forms on paper. But the colours, the living, rejoicing colours, chanting morning and evening in chorus to heaven! Whose brush or pencil, however lovingly inspired, can give us these? And if paint is of no effect, what hope lies in pen-work? Only this: some may be incited by it to go and see for themselves.'

The Upper Columbia Basin Network has identified 14 priority park vital signs, indicators of ecosystem health, which represent a broad suite of ecological phenomena operating across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Our intent has been to monitor a balanced and integrated "package" of vital signs that meets the needs of current park management, but will also be able to accommodate unanticipated environmental conditions in the future. Camas is one particularly high priority vital sign for two UCBN parks, Big Hole National Battlefield (BIHO) and Nez Perce National Historical Park (NEPE). Camas is a unique resource for these parks because it is both culturally and ecologically significant. Camas was and remains one of the most widely utilized indigenous foods in the Pacific Northwest and it is strongly associated with the wet prairie ecosystems of the region that have been degraded or lost due to historic land use practices. A long-term citizen science-based monitoring program for detecting status and trends in camas populations at BIHO and Weippe Prairie, a subunit of NEPE, will serve as a central information source for park adaptive management decision making and will provide essential feedback on any eventual restoration efforts of park wet prairie habitats. The involvement of student citizen scientists in this particular program has been effective both in terms of leveraging resources as well as in engaging communities in park stewardship and science education. This annual report details the status and trend estimates obtained from the first four years of monitoring, 2005-2008, at Weippe Prairie and BIHO.

During surveys in 2006, the authors documented 35 invasive, exotic plant species on Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. Their findings are detailed in this report.

Follow Haji in this coming of age story about a young falcon trying to find his way in the world. Facing the death of his father at the hands of humans and then abandoned by his mother, Haji's only solace lies in the companionship of his brother, Koru. But when Koru leaves with his life-mate, Haji finds himself alone. Soon after, the same humans who killed his father, return. Find out what happens when Haji is shot from the sky The Nature's Guardians series is a collection of novellas told from the perspective of animals. From childhood to adulthood, follow along on their struggles for life in a harsh and competitive world. This series highlights the real-life struggles that wildlife face as humans further encroach on their habitats. By seeing nature through the eyes of animals, may we all have a better understanding of what it means to be born wild and free.

This Report was commissioned under contract with the NPS to review "The state of knowledge and future monitoring of white-tailed deer browsing impacts in the Great Lakes Network." It is intended to assist the GLKN regional ecologists in developing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for surveying and monitoring deer impacts within vegetation monitoring plots throughout the nine National Parks in the region.

A fixed-plot monitoring system was implemented in 1992 to evaluate vegetative communities in two large wooded areas at Valley Forge National Historical Park. The objectives of this monitoring system are to: 1) describe the existing understory plant community on Mount Misery and Mount Joy in terms of species richness and abundance; and 2) determine changes in abundance and species composition of understory plant communities in fenced and unfenced plots over time. This report summarizes the data collected in these plots in 1993, 1995-1996, 1998, and 2003, and presents the results of statistical analyses of the data to determine if specific vegetative changes have occurred over time.

This annual report details the status estimates obtained during the third year of monitoring panel 3 during the field season 2009 in CIRO where 45 plots were sampled in 8 stands. Summary data from 2008 is also included in this report to provide a summary of the park data for CIRO. In addition, the authors detected an error in the calculation of aspen and conifer density in the annual report of 2008 (Strand and Bunting 2009), another reason to include corrected 2008 data in this annual report focusing on 2009.

As part of the Upper Columbia Basin Network's effort to conduct vital signs monitoring, we completed monitoring of camas (Camassia quamash) in Big Hole National Battlefield (BIHO) and Nez Perce National Historical Park (NEPE). Camas is a unique resource for these parks because it is both culturally and ecologically significant. Camas was and remains one of the most widely utilized indigenous foods in the Pacific Northwest and it is strongly associated with the wet prairie ecosystems of the region that have been degraded or lost due to historic land use practices. A long-term citizen science-based monitoring program for detecting status and trends in camas populations at BIHO and Weippe Prairie, a unit of NEPE, serves as a central information source for park adaptive management decision making and will provide essential feedback on any eventual restoration efforts of park wet prairie habitats. The involvement of student citizen scientists in this particular program has been effective both in terms of leveraging resources as well as in engaging communities in park stewardship and science education. This annual report details the status and trend estimates obtained from the first six years of monitoring, 2005-2010, at Weippe Prairie and BIHO.

This annual report details the 2010 status estimates in CRMO and a statistical change analysis comparing sampled stands in CRMO in 2007 and 2010. During the field season 2010 we re-sampled 102 plots in 21 stands in CRMO that were previously sampled in 2007.

A land cover map of the National Park Service northwest Alaska management area was produced using digitally processed Landsat data. These and other environmental data were incorporated into a geographic information system to provide baseline information about the nature and extent of resources present in this northwest Alaskan environment. This report details the methodology, depicts vegetation profiles of the surrounding landscape, and describes the different vegetation types mapped. Portions of nine Landsat satellite (multispectral scanner and thematic mapper) scenes were used to produce a land cover map of the Cape Krusenstern National Monument and Noatak National Preserve and to update an existing land cover map of Kobuk Valley National Park Valley National Park. A Bayesian multivariate classifier was applied to the multispectral data sets, followed by the application of ancillary data (elevation, slope, aspect, soils, watersheds, and geology) to enhance the spectral separation of classes into more meaningful vegetation types. The resulting land cover map contains six major land cover categories (forest, shrub, herbaceous, sparse/barren, water, other) and 19 subclasses encompassing 7 million hectares. General narratives of the distribution of the subclasses throughout the project area are given along with vegetation profiles showing common relationships between topographic gradients and vegetation communities.

Long-term trends in deer abundance provide one measure of assessing their potential as a problem for a park. Documenting long-term patterns in deer numbers allows one to evaluate correlations with changes in vegetation (e.g., through restoration of the cultural landscape). With this information resource managers can more effectively identify and potentially mitigate damage caused to vegetation communities and endangered plant populations by deer. Monitoring data also helps managers assess safety risks from collisions and disease transmission. Long-term monitoring of deer numbers is critical in evaluating any population control measures a park may implement.

The newly acquired, nearly complete coverage of ARCN by high-resolution satellite imagery has allowed the NPS to make a comprehensive survey of erosion features caused by permafrost thaw in the Noatak National Preserve (NOAT). The author combined automated mapping methods with visual recognition of geomorphic features to make a comprehensive map of ALD and RTS in NOAT. The purpose of this report is to present the results of mapping in NOAT. Mapping in three other NPS units (Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA), Cape Krusenstern National Monument (CAKR), and Kobuk Valley National Park (KOVA) was reported previously.

Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) are caused by thaw of massive ground ice on slopes and combine subsidence, mass movement, and water erosion. They can expose several hectares of bare soil that is susceptible to erosion into nearby water bodies. In the summers of 2010 and 2011, oblique aerial-photographs of 26 RTS in Noatak National Preserve (NOAT) and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR) were taken with a hand-held, 35-mm digital camera. Accurate ground control was obtained at 23 of the slumps by surveying the location of temporary targets that were captured on the aerial photographs and then removed. These photographs were used to create high-resolution three-dimensional topographic models with photographic overlay. Photographs were taken in both years at 18 of the RTS. The current report: 1) documents changes in the slumps that had photographs from both years, and 2) describes a new slump photographed for the first time in 2011.

This report describes the methods used and results obtained from a four-year project (2003-2007) to classify, describe, and develop a vegetation map database for Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO).

During surveys in 2006, the authors documented 13 invasive, exotic plant species and the native Eastern red cedar on Pea Ridge National Military Park. The survey focused on the relatively mature forests at the park to the exclusion of old fields and successional forests.

As part of the Upper Columbia Basin Network's effort to conduct vital signs monitoring, we completed monitoring of camas (Camassia quamash) in Big Hole National Battlefield (BIHO) and Nez Perce National Historical Park (NEPE). Camas is a unique resource for these parks because it is both culturally and ecologically significant. Camas was and remains one of the most widely utilized indigenous foods in the Pacific Northwest and it is strongly associated with the wet prairie ecosystems of the region that have been degraded or lost due to historic land use practices. A long-term citizen science-based monitoring program for detecting status and trends in camas populations at BIHO and Weippe Prairie, a unit of NEPE, serves as a central information source for park adaptive management decision making and will provide essential feedback on any eventual restoration efforts of park wet prairie habitats. The involvement of student citizen scientists in this particular program has been effective both in terms of leveraging resources as well as in engaging communities in park stewardship and science education. This annual report details the status and trend estimates obtained from the first five years of monitoring, 2005-2009, at Weippe Prairie and BIHO.

This report summarizes the data collected in 2012 for City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park. Both units are co-managed by the National Park Service and Idaho State Parks and Recreation. Throughout the rest of the report we refer to both units together as the Reserve and by acronym as CIRO.

Objectives of fish community monitoring at PERI are: (1) to determine the status and long term trends in fish richness, diversity, abundance, and community composition and (2) to correlate the long-term community data to overall water quality and habitat condition.

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).

The information presented in this report is a summary of the harbor seal data collected at Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area during the 2011 breeding and molting seasons, March-July. Summary data collected as part of a region-wide survey effort, including adjacent areas (San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County, and Sonoma County) where NPS surveys were conducted in conjunction with other agencies and organizations for 2011, are also presented.