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.

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.

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."

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."

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."

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

Forests host a disproportionate share of the world s biodiversity. They are increasingly being seen as a refuge for genetic diversity, native species, natural structures, and ecological processes. Yet, intensive forestry threatens their value for biodiversity. The authors present concepts, approaches and case studies illustrating how biodiversity conservation can be integrated into forest management planning. They address ecological patterns and processes taking place at the scale of landscapes, or forest mosaics. This book is intended for students and researchers in conservation biology and natural resource management, as well as forest land managers and policy makers. It presents examples from many forest regions and a variety of organisms. With contributions from researchers that are familiar with forest management and forest managers working in partnership with researchers, this book provides insight and concrete tools to help shape the future of forest landscapes worldwide.

Expelled from Botswana for writing Cry of the Kalahari, the Owenses set off across Africa. They settled in Zambia, where they soon found their peace shattered by the gunfire of elephant poachers. This is the story of the couple's battle to save the elephants and their own lives.

The subject matter of this text is conference based and deals with the physiology, ecology and management of orchid conservation. It offers information not only to the orchid research scientist, but also to the orchid enthusiast curious about the scientific background to this topic. Interest and support for plant conservation has increased considerably and a great deal of attention has been focused on the plight of members of the orchid family. The development makes it desirable to collect existing information and to consider areas of research.

This is a guide to finding tree-roosts. It is the result of the collaborative efforts of professional surveyors and amateur naturalists across Europe as part of the Bat Tree Habitat Key project, and represents a combination of firsts: It is the first time legislation and planning policy have been reviewed and put to practical use to define an analysis framework with clearly identifiable thresholds for action. Yet, despite its efficacy in a professional context, it is also the first time a guide has been produced that is equally effective in achieving its objective for amateurs. It is the first time such a method has been evidence-supported throughout, with summary reviews of each aspect of the roosting ecology of the individual 14 tree-roosting species, with illustrative photographs and data to which the reader has open access. It is the first time a repeatable analysis framework has been defined against which the surveyor may compare their results at every stage, from the desk-study, through ground-truthing, survey and analysis, thereby ensuring nothing is overlooked and that every result can be objectively compared. The survey and analysis framework itself is ground-breaking in that it may readily be adapted for any taxa; from moths, through amphibians, reptiles, birds and all other mammals. Used diligently, these methods will reward disproportionately and imbue the reader with renewed confidence as they quickly progress from beginner to competency. Thus, this book is for everyone who has ever wanted to find a tree-roost, or to safeguard against inadvertently damaging one.

Fisheries science in North America is changing in response to a changing climate, new technologies, an ecosystem approach to management and new thinking about the processes affecting stock and recruitment. Authors of the 34 chapters review the science in their particular fields and use their experience to develop informed opinions about the future. Everyone associated with fish, fisheries and fisheries management will find material that will stimulate their thinking about the future. Readers will be impressed with the potential for new discoveries, but disturbed by how much needs to be done in fisheries science if we are to sustain North American fisheries in our changing climate. Officials that manage or fund fisheries science will appreciate the urgency for the new information needed for the stewardship of fish populations and their ecosystems. Research organizations may want to keep some extra copies for a future look back into the thoughts of a wide range of fisheries professionals. Fisheries science has been full of surprises with some of the surprises having major economic impacts. It is important to minimize these impacts as the demand for seafood increases and the complexities of fisheries management increase.

Why do Australian rainforests occur as islands within the vast tracts of Eucalyptus? Why is fire a critical ecological factor in every Australian landscape? What were the consequences of the use of fire by the Ice Age colonists? In this original and challenging book, David Bowman critically examines all hypotheses that have been advanced to answer these questions. He demonstrates that fire is the most critical factor in controlling the distribution of rainforest throughout Australia. Furthermore, while Aboriginal people used fire to skillfully manage and preserve habitats, he concludes that they did not significantly influence the evolution of Australia's unique flora and fauna. This volume, the first comprehensive overview of the diverse literature on this topic, solves the puzzle of the archipelago of rainforest habitats in Australia. It is essential reading for all ecologists, foresters, conservation biologists, and others interested in the biogeography and ecology of Australian rainforests.

Most of the diadromous fish of the world have decreased in distribution and abundance since the beginning of the twentieth century. They are now threatened, and important conservation issues arise. The causes of these trends vary among species and basins but regional human impact (damming, pollution, fisheries) and global change (climate) are suspected to be responsible for these difficulties. This book contains selected papers from an international symposium organised by the Diadfish network held in Bordeaux (France) in 2005. Readers will find up-to-date information on the ecology, ecotoxicology and physiology of several diadromous species (Atlantic salmon, shads, lampreys, eels) and this whole group in Europe. Main impacts are also documented and analysed in case studies, and solutions or remediation actions are presented.

Proper designation of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) is a highly important spatial measure in any management of fishery resources. EFH is defined as those waters and substrates necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity, a definition that includes the physical, chemical and biological properties of marine areas and the associated sediment and biological assemblages that sustain fish populations throughout their full life cycle.

This book presents latest advances in EFH mapping and modelling and introduces the environmental approach to EFH identification through the combined use of latest technologies and advanced techniques, such as Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Statistics.

The contents of this book include overviews and comparisons of different approaches on species habitat modelling, methods to identify teleconnection patterns between large-scale meteo-oceanic phenomena and local environmental variation, and EFH maps for cephalopod, shrimp, hake, anchovy, sardine, and swordfish resources in the Mediterranean. The aims of this book are to provide accumulated knowledge on marine species essential habitat mapping and to be a source for further developments in the important topic of marine resource management.

Most aquatic ecosystems have variable water levels. These water-level fluctuations (WLF) have multiple effects on the organisms above and below the waterline. Natural WLF patterns in lakes guarantee both productivity and biodiversity, while untimely floods and droughts may have negative effects. Human impacts on WLF have led to a stabilization of the water levels of many lakes by hydraulic regulation, untimely drawdown due to water use, or floods due to water release from hydropower plants in the catchments.

This book provides a first review in this field. It presents selected papers on the ecological effects of WLF in lakes, resulting from a workshop at the University of Konstanz in winter 2005. Issues addressed here include the extent of WLF, and analyses of their effects on different groups of biota from microorganisms to vertebrates. Applied issues include recommendations for the hydrological management of regulated lakes to reduce negative impacts, and a conceptual framework is delivered by an extension of the floodpulse concept for lakes. Current impacts on water use, including increasing demands on drinking and irrigation water, hydropower etc., and climate change effects on WLF make this book an essential resource for aquatic ecologists, engineers, and decision-makers dealing with the management of lake ecosystems and their catchments.

A charmingly illustrated ode to increasingly threatened wildlife.The much-loved illustrations of Hannah Dale celebrate a new generation of wildlife around the world, including many endangered animals. Born to Be Wild features 50 charming portraits of new cubs, chicks and calves, some with the mother and father, some in their pride or tribe and some setting off on their own. Wildlife has never been under such threat from climate change, habitation loss and poachers and hunters. This book is a timely reminder of the beauty of the wild and the accompanying text explains how the parents undertake their role of nurturer in the wild. From orangutans to humpback whales, tigers to hedgehogs, penguins to elephants, and meerkats to koalas, Hannah Dale captures and preserves the essence of wildlife in this pocket sized book. A wonderful reference and beautiful little gift book for nature lovers.

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.

Keith Culver and David Castle Introduction Aquaculture is at the leading edge of a surprisingly polarized debate about the way we produce our food. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, aquaculture production has increased 8. 8% per year since 1970, far surpassing productivity gains in terrestrial meat production at 2. 8% in the same period (FAO 2007). Like the 'green revolution' before it, the 'blue revolution' in aquaculture promises rapidly increased productivity through technology-driven - tensi?cation of aquaculture animal and plant production (Costa-Pierce 2002; The Economist 2003). Proponents of further aquaculture development emphasize aq- culture's ancient origins and potential to contribute to global food security d- ing an unprecedented collapse in global ?sheries (World Fish Center; Meyers and Worm 2003; Worm et al. 2006). For them, technology-driven intensi?cation is an - dinary and unremarkable extension of past practice. Opponents counter with images of marine and freshwater environments devastated by intensive aquaculture pr- tices producing unsustainable and unhealthy food products. They view the promised revolutionasascam, nothingmorethanclever marketingbypro?t-hungry ?shfa- ers looking for ways to distract the public from the real harms done by aquaculture. The stark contrast between proponents and opponents of modern aquaculture recalls decades of disputes about intensive terrestrial plant and animal agriculture, disputes whose vigor shows that the debate is about much more than food production (Ruse and Castle 2002).

We developed the first edition of this book because we perceived a need for a compilation on study design with application to studies of the ecology, conser- tion, and management of wildlife. We felt that the need for coverage of study design in one source was strong, and although a few books and monographs existed on some of the topics that we covered, no single work attempted to synthesize the many facets of wildlife study design. We decided to develop this second edition because our original goal - synthesis of study design - remains strong, and because we each gathered a substantial body of new material with which we could update and expand each chapter. Several of us also used the first edition as the basis for workshops and graduate teaching, which provided us with many valuable suggestions from readers on how to improve the text. In particular, Morrison received a detailed review from the graduate s- dents in his "Wildlife Study Design" course at Texas A&M University. We also paid heed to the reviews of the first edition that appeared in the literature.