In this age of climatic and financial uncertainty, it becomes increasingly important to balance the cost, benefits and risk of wildfire management. In the United States, increased wildland fire activity over the last 15 years has resulted in drastic damage and loss of life. An associated rapid increase in fire management costs has consumed higher portions of budgets of public entities involved in wildfire management, challenging their ability to fulfill other responsibilities. Increased public scrutiny highlights the need to improve wildland fire management for cost effectiveness. This book closely examines the development of basic wildfire suppression cost models for the United States and their application to a wide range of settings from informing incident decision making to programmatic review. The book also explores emerging trends in suppression costs and introduces new spatially explicit cost models to account for characteristics of the burned landscape. Finally, it discusses how emerging risk assessment tools can be better informed by integrating management cost models with wildfire simulation models and values at risk. Economics of Wildfire Management is intended for practitioners as a reference guide. Advanced-level students and researchers will also find the book invaluable.

Reef fish spawning aggregations, ranging from small groups to many tens of thousands of individuals, are spectacular but poorly known natural phenomena whereby fish assemble at specific times and locations to spawn. For some species these large groups may be the only form of reproduction, the high fish numbers briefly giving a false impression of stability and abundance-an 'illusion of plenty'. They are often a focus for intensive seasonal fishing because of their predictability and because many important commercial fishes form them. Highly vulnerable to overexploitation, many aggregations and their associated fisheries, have disappeared or are in decline. Few are effectively managed or incorporated into protected areas. Aggregations are not well understood by fishery scientists, managers and conservationists and their significance little appreciated by fishers or the wider public. To ensure their persistence to replenish important fisheries in coral ecosystems, maintain their ecosystem function and continue to delight divers, a significant change in perspective is needed to foster protection and management. This book provides comprehensive and practical coverage of the biology, study and management of reef fish aggregations, exploring their how, when, where, and why. It explores ways to better protect, study, manage and conserve them, while identifying key data gaps and questions. The text is extensively illustrated with many unique, never before published, photographs and graphics. Case studies on over 20 interesting and important fishes are included, outlining their biology and fisheries and highlighting major concerns and challenges.

This is a practical gardener's guide for animal lovers, including planting advice, designs and 90 step-by-step projects, with 1700 photographs. Turn your garden into a wildlife haven by growing the right plants to encourage beneficial insects, aquatic life, birds and animals. It includes illustrated directories of over 200 plant species, from annuals to climbers, with practical advice on cultivation and uses, plus 80 of the most common garden bird species, with identification illustrations and natural history information on distribution, size, distinguishing characteristics, behaviour, nesting, eggs and feeding habits. It includes practical step-by-step projects that show you how to make all kinds of birdhouses, bird tables, birdbaths, wildlife stacks and more. It features all the basic gardening techniques such as plant propagation, soil preparation, composting and general maintenance. Itis illustrated throughout with over 1700 practical colour artworks and photographs. One of the most enjoyable aspects of creating and maintaining a garden lies in the feeling of closeness to nature. Now, with this new book box set, you can encourage hidden birds, animal and insects to proliferate in your very own back garden. These two books, written by award-winning gardening experts, give clear advice on how to create a range of wildlife gardens, showing how adopting a few simple methods will produce a dazzling display of colour while helping native animal species. There are suggestions for the best flowers, shrubs, hedges and trees to attract birds, including a design for a garden border that will provide food throughout the seasons. Comprehensive directories explore over 200 beautiful garden plants, plus over 80 of the most common birds, insects and animals, from woodland and countryside locations to town and city environments. With its helpful practical advice and over 1700 photographs and illustrations, this is the ideal source book for gardeners, bird lovers and wildlife enthusiasts.

Diplomacy, Funding and Animal Welfare is a practical guide to the best diplomatic and negotiation practices needed to convince governments and international institutions to effectively protect animals, which also introduces new approaches to fundraising. Animal protection advocates are prepared for speaking to diplomats and government officials in any setting, and to combatants in war zones. The book mainly focuses on approaching local and national governments, the United Nations system, the international Red Cross movement and systems related to other international organizations that can help animals, often in surprising ways. The reader will learn the rules of "diplomatic protocol", and much about the rules and procedures of major international bodies. To provide balance and real world relevance, the guide draws on a compilation of the author's extensive activities across a range of development, animal welfare, emergency management and climate issues in government and in the NGO world, as well as interviews with scholars and officials from NGOs, diplomatic missions, the United Nations, the Red Cross, governments and corporations.

Zoo Animal Welfare thoroughly reviews the scientific literature on the welfare of zoo and aquarium animals. Maple and Perdue draw from the senior author's 24 years of experience as a zoo executive and international leader in the field of zoo biology. The authors' academic training in the interdisciplinary field of psychobiology provides a unique perspective for evaluating the ethics, practices, and standards of modern zoos and aquariums. The book offers a blueprint for the implementation of welfare measures and an objective rationale for their widespread use. Recognizing the great potential of zoos, the authors have written an inspirational book to guide the strategic vision of superior, welfare-oriented institutions. The authors speak directly to caretakers working on the front lines of zoo management, and to the decision-makers responsible for elevating the priority of animal welfare in their respective zoo. In great detail, Maple and Perdue demonstrate how zoos and aquariums can be designed to achieve optimal standards of welfare and wellness.

Dugongs and manatees, the only fully aquatic herbivorous mammals, live in the coastal waters, rivers and lakes of more than 80 subtropical and tropical countries. Symbols of fierce conservation battles, sirenian populations are threatened by multiple global problems. Providing comparative information on all four surviving species, this book synthesises the ecological and related knowledge pertinent to understanding the biology and conservation of the sirenia. It presents detailed scientific summaries, covering sirenian feeding biology; reproduction and population dynamics; behavioural ecology; habitat requirements and threats to their continued existence. Outlining the current conservation status of the sirenian taxa, this unique study will equip researchers and professionals with the scientific knowledge required to develop proactive, precautionary and achievable strategies to conserve dugongs and manatees. Supplementary material is available online at: www.cambridge.org/9780521888288.

This volume reviews, for the first time, the broad range of issues that affect the welfare of commercially farmed ratites. Although ratites incorporate several families of flightless birds this book focuses on the most commonly farmed ratites, the ostrich, emu and rhea. The readers are taken on a journey through all sectors of the industry, which include breeding, incubation, hatching, brooding, rearing, growth, transport and processing, with an emphasis on husbandry and management protocols that can impact bird welfare and health. Also discussed is the structure and sensory innervation of the skin and digits of the birds, and the potential welfare implications of industry practices on these structures. Each chapter in this volume focuses on a particular aspect of the commercial farming of ratites with contributing authors from a broad range of disciplines."

During the century leading up to this book's publication in 1941, there had been a complete revolution in conditions governing the habits and numbers of wildfowl in many parts of the world. Industrial innovations such as the breech-loading gun, the steam-engine, and the internal combustion engine not only increased destruction, but, by disturbance of previously quiet resting places, led to vast changes in distribution. In most locations, these changes were masked by seasonal fluctuations, and too slow for the average wildfowler to notice. But it began to be realised, especially in North America, that the number of wildfowl was seriously diminishing. To obtain accurate information, the International Committee for Bird Preservation adopted a far-reaching scheme of investigation and inquiry. This first publication gives the results of the investigations in Scotland. It attempts to record a distributional index and practical estimate of a country's total stock of wildfowl.

This fun-filled, full-colour RHS adventure handbook is full of ideas to help kids discover the great outdoors and get closer to nature. Created with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the UK's leading gardening charity. This beautifully illustrated book is packed with fun activities, handy tips and nature facts to encourage children to explore the wonderful world around them. Grow your own strawberries and runner beans Build a hibernation home for outdoor creatures Create a nature scrapbook to treasure Discover more about plants, trees and wildlife Each page is filled with inspiring ideas for discovering and exploring plants and wildlife, with exciting activities for all seasons and weathers.

This book considers a number of problems posed by ungulates and their management in Europe. Through a synthesis of the underlying biology and a comparison of the management techniques adopted in different countries, the book explores which management approaches seem effective and in which circumstances. Experts in a number of different areas of applied wildlife biology review various management problems and alternative solutions, including the impact of large ungulates on agriculture, forestry and conservation habitats, the impact of disease and predation on ungulate populations and the involvement of ungulates in road traffic accidents and possible measures for mitigation. This book is directed at practising wildlife managers, those involved in research to improve methods of wildlife management, and policy-makers in local, regional and national administrations.

This book deals with the role of education in improving animal welfare and reducing animal suffering inflicted by humans. It embraces situations in which humans have direct control over animals or interfere directly with them, but it considers also indirect animal suffering resulting from human activities. Education is regarded in the broad sense of creating awareness and facilitating change. First, consideration is given to a number of specific themes in which education can make an important contribution towards reducing animal suffering, and subsequently an examination is made of a number of interrelated contexts in which education can address the various themes. The considered educational themes are: * animal suffering and sentience that have both scientific and moral aspects * human discrimination against animals known as speciesism and the need for attitudinal change by humans * role and existing limitations of legislation in providing protection to animals * matter of enforcement of animal protection legislation * achievement of reform to improve animal protection by legislative and other means * training of professionals, carers, and users involved with animals to provide better protection* the scope for science to contribute to improved animal protection * animal protection as a regional and international issue

The first edition of Mike Alexander s "Management Planning for Nature Conservation," brought a new dimension to the modern literature on conservation management. This second edition, a significant enhancement of the original, deals with the development both, conceptual and practical, of adaptive management planning for nature conservation. It is about preparing management plans, and guides the reader through the entire process. Case-studies, including a conservation and access plan, demonstrate the planning process in action. This approach to planning can be applied to any place which is managed entirely, or in part, for wildlife. It can be applied to the management of species or habitats in any circumstance, regardless of site designation. The process is fully compatible with the Convention on Biological Diversity s ecosystem approach to conservation management.

Mike Alexander has long been at the forefront of developing management planning for conservation, with experience ranging from Uganda to Estonia, and from Costa Rica to Wales. He is the General Secretary of the Conservation Management System Consortium, a group of organisations with a common aim of raising standards and developing best practice in conservation management and planning. In 2012 Mike Alexander was elected a Fellow of the Society of Biology in recognition of his contribution to nature conservation and in particular management planning.

This book has drawn on the experiences and expertise of the CMS consortium and other leaders in both conservation research and wildlife management from around the world. It is essential reading for professional conservation managers and any student studying management planning for conservation within a range of degree and postgraduate courses."

As the human population increases and nations become more industrialized, the habitat and water quality required for the survival of fish continues to decline. In addition to these environmental factors, fish populations are directly or potentially affected by harvesting, enhancement programs and introgression with hatchery-propagated or transgenic fish. To our knowledge no other scientific meeting has been assembled to consider the breadth of the problem, to review the technology that is presently available for the preservation of the germ plasm of salmonid stocks and to identify the scientific advances that are required to overcome the problems. Because many salmonids have spawning grounds within the confines of a specific region or county but will spend a large portion of their life cycle within the territorial waters of other countries or in the open ocean, the preservation of unique genes or gene pools in these animals requires international cooperation. This scientific meeting has provided a forum in which to discuss the problems, evaluate the present methods or technology for addressing the problems and suggest new directions or innovations that need to be implemented. During this meeting we limited our discussion to salmonid fishes. However, the general conclusions about the factors that affect the population dynamics of fish stocks and the technical aspects concerning the preservation of germ plasm will be applicable to other fish species.

This book provides a synthesis of taxonomic and ecological information on New Zealand s freshwater fish fauna. New Zealand has been isolated in the southwestern Pacific Ocean since it separated from Gondwana during the Cretaceous period, some 80 million years ago. This prolonged geological isolation, combined with the islands very vigorous geological history, impacted by oceanic submergence, tectonic activity, mountain building extreme volcanism, and great climatic variability, create a dynamic scenario within which the New Zealand biota, including its freshwater fishes, have evolved over millions of years. These impacts have contributed to a highly dynamic biological history with undoubted though little understood extinction and vigorous colonisation of the islands fresh water. One of the key elements for understanding the origins and derivations of this fish fauna is that in all groups some or all of the species are diadromous, customarily spending a significant phase of their lives at sea. This has no doubt contributed in an important way the fauna s origins As well, there has been frequent loss of diadromous behaviours leading, to species that have abandoned their sea-migratory behaviours and which now complete their entire lives in fresh water. The distribution patterns reflect these changing habits, with diadromous species being broadly distributed but tending to be lowland in range, whereas the derived, non-diadromous species have narrower ranges, but are often found further inland and at high elevations. This book provides an ecological and historical synthesis of these divergent patterns across New Zealand s geography and history."

It presents a new approach to set fish quota based on holistic ecosystem modeling (the CoastWeb-model) and also a plan to optimize a sustainable management of the Baltic Sea including a cost-benefit analysis. This plan accounts for the production of prey and predatory fish under different environmental conditions, professional fishing, recreational fishing and fish cage farm production plus an analysis of associated economic values. Several scenarios and remedial strategies for Baltic Sea management are discussed and an "optimal" strategy motivated and presented, which challenges the HELCOM strategy that was accepted by the Baltic States in November 2007. The strategy advocated in this book would create more than 7000 new jobs, the total value of the fish production would be about 1600 million euro per year plus 1000 million euro per year related to the willingness-to-pay to combat the present conditions in the Baltic Sea. Our strategy would cost about 370 million euro whereas the HELCOM strategy would cost about 3100 million euro per year. The "optimal" strategy is based on a defined goal - that the water clarity in the Gulf of Finland should return to what it was 100 years ago.

The management of kangaroos is one of the most controversial issues in Australian wildlife management today - kangaroos are 'in plague proportions' or 'on the verge of extinction' depending on whom you spoke to last. This book examines the ecology and management of kangaroos and shows how they interact with their own environment and with that shaped by sheep grazing and the wool industry. It presents the results of intensive and detailed studies of feeding behaviour, movement and habitat utilisation, body condition and population dynamics, weather and plant growth. These are then synthesised to produce a clear picture of how kangaroos cope so successfully with the climatic extremes of the arid zone, how they and the sheep jointly affect each other's fortunes, and what the options are for the future management of kangaroos both within the national parks and on the sheep rangelands.

The International Politics of Bird Conservation assesses international cooperation on migratory and endangered birds in different regions of the world. Robert Boardman illustrates that - although birds are protected in international treaties, by national legislation and through the projects of non-governmental organizations - the threats to many species have mounted. Threats arise from ecologically inappropriate agricultural and forestry practices, the spread of cities and the draining of wetlands, among other factors. The author focuses on regional cooperation between governments, NGOs and international organizations. It questions the effectiveness of international cooperation on the protection of birds, particularly migratory and endangered species. The rise of conservation-related scientific research and the historical evolution of bird protection efforts are discussed, as are regional developments in Africa, the Americas, the Arctic, Antarctica, Asia, Australasia, and Europe. The author concludes by identifying emerging trends in environmental governance and suggesting reforms to strengthen these arrangements. This book will prove a fascinating read for researchers, academics, organizations and specialists in a wide range of fields including: bird conservation and wildlife protection, environmental law and policy, global governance, regionalism and transborder cooperation.

Biological diversity is considered one of today's most urgent environmental concerns, yet the term was first coined only twenty-five years ago. Why did the concept of biological diversity so quickly capture public attention and emerge as a banner issue for the environmental movement? In this book, Timothy J. Farnham explores for the first time the historical roots of biological diversity, tracing the evolution of the term as well as the history of the conservation traditions that contributed to its rapid acceptance and popularity.
Biological diversity is understood today as consisting of three components--species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity. Farnham finds that these three tiers coincided with three earlier, disparate conservation traditions that converged when the cause of preserving biological diversity was articulated. He tells the stories of these different historical foundations, recounts how the term came into the environmental lexicon, and shows how the evolution of the idea of biological diversity reflects an evolution of American attitudes toward the natural world.

For centuries, criminologists have looked for scientific ways to study, understand, and ultimately prevent crime. In this volume, a unique offense, poaching, is explored in various contexts to determine what opportunity structures favor this crime and how situational crime prevention may reduce its prevalence. The data sources used range from publically available secondary data about animal populations, to interviews with hunters, to actual law enforcement data collected inside protected areas. Various methods are utilized to look for patterns in poaching behaviour regarding where poachers strike, which species they target and their modus operandi. Collectively, the volume shows that principles of criminal opportunity theory and situational crime prevention are useful for studying and preventing poaching in a variety of contexts. The methods employed by each chapter are easily replicated and meant to stimulate empirical poaching research where data is available. While the theoretical grounding of this volume is drawn from criminology, it is written for a broad audience of academics, practitioners and those interested in wildlife conservation.

"In this brilliant study of cloned wild life, Carrie Friese adds a whole new dimension to the study of reproduction, illustrating vividly and persuasively how social and biological reproduction are inextricably bound together, and why this matters."--Sarah Franklin, author of Dolly Mixtures: the Remaking of Genealogy The natural world is marked by an ever-increasing loss of varied habitats, a growing number of species extinctions, and a full range of new kinds of dilemmas posed by global warming. At the same time, humans are also working to actively shape this natural world through contemporary bioscience and biotechnology. In Cloning Wild Life, Carrie Friese posits that cloned endangered animals in zoos sit at the apex of these two trends, as humans seek a scientific solution to environmental crisis. Often fraught with controversy, cloning technologies, Friese argues, significantly affect our conceptualizations of and engagements with wildlife and nature. By studying animals at different locations, Friese explores the human practices surrounding the cloning of endangered animals. She visits zoos--the San Diego Zoological Park, the Audubon Center in New Orleans, and the Zoological Society of London--to see cloning and related practices in action, as well as attending academic and medical conferences and interviewing scientists, conservationists, and zookeepers involved in cloning. Ultimately, she concludes that the act of recalibrating nature through science is what most disturbs us about cloning animals in captivity, revealing that debates over cloning become, in the end, a site of political struggle between different human groups. Moreover, Friese explores the implications of the social role that animals at the zoo play in the first place--how they are viewed, consumed, and used by humans for our own needs. A unique study uniting sociology and the study of science and technology, Cloning Wild Life demonstrates just how much bioscience reproduces and changes our ideas about the meaning of life itself. Carrie Friese is Lecturer in Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Nearly all cultures, from ancient times to today, have used plants as a source of medicine. In many developing countries, traditional medicine is still the mainstay of health care and most of the drugs and cures used come from plants. In developed countries many people are turning to herbal remedies. With this widespread use has come the assumption that plants identified as having medicinal qualities will be available on a continuing basis. However no concerted effort has been made to ensure this and in the face of the threats of increasing demand, a vastly increasing human population and extensive forest destruction, there can be no guarantee that we will continue to benefit indefinitely from this valuable resource. In light of this situation the World Health Organisation held a meeting in 1988. This book is the outcome of that meeting, detailing in a series of papers by leading experts the problems of which need to be addressed, the existing experiences from a range of countries and the future direction which must be taken to ensure the conservation of the world's medicinal plants.

Insects are the most diverse and abundant animals that share our world, and conservation initiatives are increasingly needed and being implemented globally, to safe guard the wealth of individual species. This book provides sufficient background information, illustrated by examples from many parts of the world, to enable more confident and efficient progress towards the conservation of these ecologically indispensable animals. Writing for graduate students, academic researchers and professionals, Tim New describes the major ingredients for insect species management and conservation, and how these may be integrated into effective practical management and recovery plans.

In the mid 1970s two events led me to get to know the Yorkshire Dales better than I had previously. Since 1964 I had been to the Malham Tarn Field Centre with groups of students, first from the University of Edinburgh and then from the University of York, and my family very much enjoyed the summer days we spent amid this magnificent hill scenery. In 1976, the British Ecological Society and the National Trust jointly worked on a survey of the biological interest of the National Trust properties of the Kent, East Anglian and Yorkshire Regions. Malham Tarn itself, and the surrounding farms, formed one of the twenty properties of the Yorkshire Region. I spent the bank holiday, that commemorated the Queen's Silver Jubilee, at Malham, looking fairly closely at the National Trust's landholding there. Miss Sarah Priest, who also looked at the National Trust properties, and I produced a report in late 1977, attempting both to describe and to evaluate the nature resources of the National Trust in Yorkshire. In the following year, 1978, the Nature Conservancy Council wanted to survey the whole of the upland area that was known as the Malhaml Arncliffe SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). A contract to look at such an exciting area, considering where boundaries should go, and looking to see if there were important areas of habitat that should be brought within the SSSI, was a superb practical antidote to an office in the University.