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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences
The present book is divided into several parts. An introductory
chapter serves to make the reader aware of the diversity of the
subject of habitat selection in birds. Many if the various aspects
of habitat selection introduced in the first chapter are developed
in subsequent chapters, and thus it serves to some extent as an
overview of the subject and as a "lead-in" to subsequent work.
Illustrated throughout with 200 outstanding colour photographs,
Endangered Animals presents an in-depth look at around 100 species
of animal from around the world, all of which are currently
endangered or threatened according to the annual list drawn up by
the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The selection spans a broad
spectrum of wildlife, from large, charismatic mammals such as the
Bengal tiger to lesser-known species such as New Zealand's kakapo,
the world's only flightless parrot, which was once presumed to be
extinct. Each continent is covered, with examples carefully drawn
from every habitat - from the mysterious aye-aye of Madagascar's
shrinking rainforest, to the shy spectacled bear of the high Andes.
Arranged geographically, each photographic entry is supported by a
fascinating caption, which explains the animal's current plight and
whether it is critically endangered or classified as vulnerable.
From the Ethiopian wolf to the Bengal tiger to monk seal and
dugong, Endangered Animals is a fascinating introduction to some of
the most threatened species on the planet.
This volume is devoted to the memory of the eminent carcinologist
Professor Ruiyu Liu (1922-2012) of the Institute of Oceanology of
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China. Since 1949, Professor
Liu had devoted his life to studying taxonomy, systematics,
ecology, zoogeography and aquaculture and published a total of more
than 210 papers and monographs. He described two new genera,
fifty-two new species and one new subspecies, including not only
crustaceans but also cnidarians, polychaetes and molluscs. In this
volume forty of his friends and colleagues put together sixteen
papers to honour Professor Liu, and named after him three new
genera and eleven new species. First published as a Special Issue
of Crustaceana 93(11-12): 1233-1546.
Australia's varied grasslands have suffered massive losses and
changes since European settlement, and those changes continue under
increasingly intensive human pressures for development and
agricultural production. The values of native grasslands for
conservation of endemic native biodiversity, both flora and fauna,
have led to strong interests in the protection of remaining
fragments, especially near urban centres, and documentation of the
insects and other inhabitants of grasslands spanning tropical to
cool temperate parts of the country. Attention to conservation of
grassland insects in Australia is relatively recent, but it is
increasingly apparent that grasslands harbour many localised and
ecologically specialised endemic species. Their conservation
necessarily advances from very incomplete documentation, and draws
heavily on lessons from the far better-documented grasslands
elsewhere, most notably in the northern hemisphere, and undertaken
over far longer periods. From those cases, and the extensive
background to grassland management to harmonise conservation with
production and amenity values through honing use of processes such
as grazing, mowing and fire, the needs and priorities for Australia
can become clearer, together with needs for grassland restoration
at a variety of scales. This book is a broad overview of
conservation needs of grassland insects in Australia, drawing on
the background provided elsewhere in the world on the responses to
disturbances, and the ecological importance, of some key insect
groups (notably Orthoptera, Hemiptera and Lepidoptera) to suggest
how insect conservation in native, pastoral and urban grasslands
may be advanced. The substantial references given for each chapter
facilitate entry for non-entomologist grassland managers and
stewards to appreciate the diversity and importance of Australia's
grassland insects, their vulnerabilities to changes, and the
possibilities for conserving them and the wider ecological roles in
which they participate.
Tracking Animal Migration with Stable Isotopes, Second Edition,
provides a complete introduction to new and powerful isotopic tools
and applications that track animal migration, reviewing where
isotope tracers fit in the modern toolbox of tracking methods. The
book provides background information on a broad range of migration
scenarios in terrestrial and aquatic systems and summarizes the
most cutting-edge developments in the field that are
revolutionizing the way migrant individuals and populations are
assigned to their true origins. It allows undergraduates, graduate
students and non-specialist scientists to adopt and apply isotopes
to migration research, and also serves as a useful reference for
scientists. The new edition thoroughly updates the information
available to the reader on current applications of this technique
and provides new tools for the isotopic assignment of individuals
to origins, including geostatistical multi-isotope approaches and
the ways in which researchers can combine isotopes with routine
data in a Bayesian framework to provide best estimates of animal
origins. Four new chapters include contributions on applications to
the movements of terrestrial mammals, with particular emphasis on
how aspects of animal physiology can influence stable isotope
values.
More is known about the behavior, anatomy, and molecular biology of
the laboratory rat than any other animal species. Although its
natural history and psychological functions have been described
previously in books, this is the first comprehensive description of
its behavior. Both seasoned and beginning investigators will be
amazed at the range and complexity of the species as described in
the 43 chapters of this volume. The behavioral descriptions are
closely tied to the laboratory methods from which they were
derived, thus allowing investigators to correlate the behavior and
methods and exploit them in their own research. This book is aimed
at investigators in neuroscience who may not be familiar with rat
behavior, but who wish to incorporate behavioral studies into their
own research. Nevertheless, seasoned investigators will also find
the book to be a handy reference for behavioral paradigms with
which they may not be familiar. It is expected that as the genetic
and molecular understanding of the rat develops, there will be an
increasing need for knowledge about rat behavior. This book will
serve as an indispensable resource for neuroscientists,
psychologists, pharmacologists, geneticists, molecular biologists,
zoologists, and their students and trainees.
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