The number of primates on the brink of extinction continues to grow, and the need to respond with effective conservation measures has never been greater. This book provides a comprehensive and state-of-the-art synthesis of research principles and applied management practices for primate conservation. It begins with a consideration of the biological, intellectual, economic, and ecological importance of primates and a summary of the threats that they face, before going on to consider these threats in more detail with chapters on habitat change, trade, hunting, infectious diseases, and climate change. Potential solutions in the form of management practice are examined in detail, including chapters on conservation genetics, protected areas, and translocation. An Introduction to Primate Conservation brings together an international team of specialists with wide-ranging expertise across primate taxa. This is an essential textbook for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and established researchers in the fields of primate ecology and conservation biology. It will also be a valuable reference for conservation practitioners, land managers, and professional primatologists worldwide.

Since early on in the development of wind-energy production, concerns have arisen about the potential impacts of turbines to wildlife; these concerns have especially focused on the mortality of birds. Structural changes and improved turbine design have been instrumental in reducing mortality in birds. Despite the improvements to turbines that have resulted in reduced mortality of birds, there is clear evidence that bat mortality at wind turbines is of far greater conservation concern. Larger and taller turbines actually seem to be causing increased fatalities of bats. Numerous research opportunities exist that pertain to issues such as identifying the best and worst placement of sites for turbines; and mitigation strategies that would minimise impacts to wildlife (birds and bats). This book focuses on refereed journal publications and theses about bats and wind-energy development in North America.

Marsupials and monotremes are the dominant mammalian fauna in Australia, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and parts of South America. Monotremes are unique; they possess a range of reptilian and mammalian characteristics. Marsupials are highly diverse and occupy a wide range of ecologically diverse niches and habitats. They have distinct physiologies and their ability to control foetal development and nurture extremely immature young is providing beneficial insights into developmental physiology and human medicine. Insights into marsupial herbivory are benefitting agriculture and climate science. Studies on these mammals that have or will benefit mankind in medicine, agriculture and environmental science have been highlighted. This book covers current knowledge of all aspects of the basic biology and ecology of marsupials and monotremes including evolution and biogeography, genomics, musculoskeletal anatomy, thermal regulation, reproduction, nutrition and feeding strategies, behaviour and social interactions, health and disease, current conservation status, exploitation and utilisation and finally addresses this question: "Are monotremes and marsupials inferior?" The principal audience for this book will be undergraduate students at the tertiary level. Within these chapters, standalone text boxes have been incorporated with examples of the most up-to-date research undertaken to make the book a resource to research students and scientists. Many text boxes highlight the enigmatic nature of marsupials and monotremes and where knowledge of their biology could be of value to the wider community (medicine, agriculture and environment). This compilation emphasises the utility of the information being generated from research with these mammals to the wider scientific community.

A multitude of direct and indirect human influences have significantly altered the environmental conditions, composition, and diversity of marine communities. However, understanding and predicting the combined impacts of single and multiple stressors is particularly challenging because observed ecological feedbacks are underpinned by a number of physiological and behavioural responses that reflect stressor type, severity, and timing. Furthermore, integration between the traditional domains of physiology and ecology tends to be fragmented and focused towards the effects of a specific stressor or set of circumstances. This novel volume summarises the latest research in the physiological and ecological responses of marine species to a comprehensive range of marine stressors, including chemical and noise pollution, ocean acidification, hypoxia, UV radiation, thermal and salinity stress before providing a perspective on future outcomes for some of the most pressing environmental issues facing society today. Stressors in the Marine Environment synthesises the combined expertise of a range of international researchers, providing a truly interdisciplinary and accessible summary of the field. It is essential reading for graduate students as well as professional researchers in environmental physiology, ecology, marine biology, conservation biology, and marine resource management. It will also be of particular relevance and use to the regulatory agencies and authorities tasked with managing the marine environment, including social scientists and environmental economists.

This is the seventh book in the Al-the-Gator Series. A science book about animals written by an author who has done personal research on these animals. The book has additional information and other books to learn from. An activity section follows the story.

The relationships between humans and aquatic mammals in the Neotropics has been important since archaic times in the American continent, but also varied across time and space, a fact taken on by this publication. In this book, the chapters were written by experts in the field of zooarchaeology, environmental archaeology and conservation biology and different lines of evidence and research questions are used to offer an archaeological approach to these long term relationships. One of the aims of this book is to discuss research questions, methodologies and results pursued and obtained across the different Neotropical regions. The range of variations in the zooarchaeological evidences that result from the aquatic mammal exploitation across time and space still cannot be clearly defined, and the book's chapters show clearly that different archaeological expectations on this matter seem to be linked to the ecological properties and internal subdivisions of the Neotropical region. Thus, the book leads the reader to consider the different ways humans impacted on aquatic mammal populations in both, the prehistoric and historic past. For that reason, we believe that the archeological data can contribute to deepen the knowledge about the natural history of the Neotropical aquatic mammals, eventually even helping to evaluate the ecological status of aquatic mammals in different areas of this region.

First published more than a century ago, The Biography of a Grizzly recounts the life of a fictitious bear named Wahb who lived and died in the Greater Yellowstone region. This new edition combines Ernest Thompson Seton's classic tale and original illustrations with historical and scientific context for Wahb's story, providing a thorough understanding of the setting, cultural connections, biology, and ecology of Seton's best-known book. By the time The Biography of a Grizzly was published in 1900, grizzly bears had been hunted out of much of their historical range in North America. The characterization of Wahb, along with Seton's other anthropomorphic tales of American wildlife, helped to change public perceptions and promote conservation. As editors Jeremy M. Johnston and Charles R. Preston remind us, however, Seton's approach to writing about animals put him at the center of the ""Nature-Faker"" controversy of the early twentieth century, when John Burroughs and Theodore Roosevelt, among others, denounced sentimental representations of wildlife. The editors address conservation scientists' continuing concerns about inaccurate depictions of nature in popular culture. Despite its anthropomorphism, Seton's paradoxical book imparts a good deal of insightful and accurate natural history, even as its exaggerations shaped early-twentieth-century public opinion on conservation in often counterproductive ways. By complicating Seton's enthralling tale with scientific observations of grizzly behavior in the wild, Johnston and Preston evaluate the story's accuracy and bring the story of Yellowstone grizzlies into the present day. Preserving the 1900 edition's original design and illustrations, Wahb brings new understanding to an American classic, updating the book for current and future generations.

How intelligent are dolphins? Is their communication system really as complex as human language? And are they as friendly and peaceful as they are made out to be? The Western world has had an enduring love affair with dolphins since the early 1960s, with fanciful claims of their 'healing powers' and 'super intelligence'. Myths and pseudoscience abound on the subject. Justin Gregg weighs up the claims made about dolphin intelligence and separates scientific fact from fiction. He puts our knowledge about dolphin behaviour and intelligence into perspective, with comparisons to scientific studies of other animals, especially the crow family and great apes. He gives fascinating accounts of the challenges of testing what an animal with flippers and no facial expressions might be animal behaviour, Gregg challenges many of the widespread beliefs about dolphins, while also inspiring the reader with the remarkable abilities common to many of the less glamorized animals around us - such as chickens.

This book is a collection of fascinating contributions from research experts around the world and their studies on monkeys, their brains, behaviours, endocrinology, diseases that pose potential threats to our species and the evolution of hormonal genes. If "humans are like onions -- made of layers", as said by the character in the movie Shrek, monkeys are perhaps made of the same layers, except for the outermost. Thus, we share most of our genetics, physiology and pathology with them, in addition to our behaviour and social conduct. These great similarities, particularly in metabolic aspects, are thoroughly documented by the authors that close the book which describes the baboon as just an experimental animal model used to discover the genetic and hormonal alterations behind the appearance of those chronic diseases that have become a pandemic. The authors dealing with the brain development subject make the point that, given the position that non-human primates (NHP) occupy within the evolutionary tree, and as the closest phylogenetic species to humans, the rhesus monkeys constitute an ideal animal model for the study of fundamental neural mechanisms occurring throughout the developmental and maturation phases of life; from the neonatal to senile stages.

Focusing on the physiological and behavioral factors that enable a species to live in a harsh seasonal environment, this book places the social biology of marmots in an environmental context. It draws on the results of a forty-year empirical study of the population biology of the yellow-bellied marmot near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in the Upper East River Valley in Colorado, USA. The text examines life-history features such as body-size, habitat use, environmental physiology, social dynamics, and kinship. Considerable new data analyses are integrated with material published over a fifty-year period, including extensive natural history observations, providing an essential foundation for integrating social and population processes. Finally, the results of research into the yellow-bellied marmot are related to major ecological and evolutionary theories, especially inclusive fitness and population regulation, making this a valuable resource for students and researchers in animal behavior, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation.

If ever there was a contender for "giant dwarfs" or "the world's biggest dwarf," pygmy elephants are it. Even a five-foot at the shoulder pygmy elephant would still be a massive beast. I wanted to call this work Slightly Smaller Elephants - Possibly but I was persuaded that Pygmy Elephants had a better ring to it. There have in the past - millions to hundreds of thousands of years ago - been smaller species of elephants, well-documented in the fossil record, some of whom we will meet shortly. And there have been claims made for the existence of living pygmy elephants in various remote and not-so-remote parts of the world today.

For centuries, reports of man-eating tigers in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have circulated, shrouded in myth and anecdote. This fascinating book documents the "big cat"-human relationship in this area during its 350-year colonial period, re-creating a world in which people feared tigers but often came into contact with them, because these fierce predators prefer habitats created by human interference. Peter Boomgaard shows how people and tigers adapted to each other's behavior, each transmitting this learning from one generation to the next. He discusses the origins of stories and rituals about tigers and explains how cultural biases of Europeans and class differences among indigenous populations affected attitudes toward the tigers. He provides figures on their populations in different eras and analyzes the factors contributing to their present status as an endangered species. Interweaving stories about Malay kings, colonial rulers, tiger charmers, and bounty hunters with facts about tigers and their way of life, the book is an engrossing combination of environmental and micro history.

This book brings together scientific evidence and experience relevant to the practical conservation of bats. The authors worked with an international group of bat experts and conservationists to develop a global list of interventions that could benefit bats. For each intervention, the book summarises studies captured by the Conservation Evidence project, where that intervention has been tested and its effects on bats quantified. The result is a thorough guide to what is known, or not known, about the effectiveness of bat conservation actions throughout the world. Bat Conservation is the fifth in a series of Synopses that will cover different species groups and habitats, gradually building into a comprehensive summary of evidence on the effects of conservation interventions for all biodiversity throughout the world. By making evidence accessible in this way, we hope to enable a change in the practice of conservation, so it can become more evidence-based. We also aim to highlight where there are gaps in knowledge. Evidence from all around the world is included. If there appears to be a bias towards evidence from northern European or North American temperate environments, this reflects a current bias in the published research that is available to us. Conservation interventions are grouped primarily according to the relevant direct threats, as defined in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Unified Classification of Direct Threats (www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes).

This book brings together scientific evidence and experience relevant to the practical conservation of bats. The authors worked with an international group of bat experts and conservationists to develop a global list of interventions that could benefit bats. For each intervention, the book summarises studies captured by the Conservation Evidence project, where that intervention has been tested and its effects on bats quantified. The result is a thorough guide to what is known, or not known, about the effectiveness of bat conservation actions throughout the world. Bat Conservation is the fifth in a series of Synopses that will cover different species groups and habitats, gradually building into a comprehensive summary of evidence on the effects of conservation interventions for all biodiversity throughout the world. By making evidence accessible in this way, we hope to enable a change in the practice of conservation, so it can become more evidence-based. We also aim to highlight where there are gaps in knowledge. Evidence from all around the world is included. If there appears to be a bias towards evidence from northern European or North American temperate environments, this reflects a current bias in the published research that is available to us. Conservation interventions are grouped primarily according to the relevant direct threats, as defined in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Unified Classification of Direct Threats (www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes).

In this work, the authors present current research in the study of the phylogeny and evolutionary insights, conservation strategies and role in disease transmission in bats. The topics discussed in this compilation include the role of bats in lyssavirus epidemiology; implications for ecological cognitive psychology of human-bat-interactions; molecular phylogeography and conservation of Chinese Bats; and effects of climate change on the worlds northernmost bat population.

Almost 95 per cent of the world's tiger attacks occur in the Sundarbans forests of the Gangetic delta. More than 1300 poor Indian villagers, mostly fishermen, have been attacked and eaten by tigers since 1964. Greater numbers have died across the border in Bangladesh. Unnecessarily, says Sudipt Dutta in this first detailed, authoritative work on the Sundarbans man-eating tiger. Dutta challenges the conventional blood-thirsty image and given wisdom on these tigers. Ignorance, lack of research, lack of political and bureaucratic will and the silence of the conservation community has permitted these poor people to die horrific deaths. Dutta has gathered unparalleled quantities of data and spent four years studying the swamp forests to redraw our knowledge of the misunderstood Sundarbans tiger. He then identifies the key issues that leads to man-eater attacks and suggests a prescription to encourage conservation of these unique mangrove forests, increase tiger numbers and curb man-eater tiger attacks in the Sundarbans