This book describes the bird life of the various upland regions of the British Isles and presents the various species from an ecological standpoint. The book relates the bird distribution and abundance to the various environmental influences of climate, topography, geology, soil type and human land use. The book initially sets the scene by describing and examining the changes and bird fauna following the major climatic shift since the end of the Ice Age. The uplands are grouped into several main types - sheep-walks, grouse moors, deer forests, flows (peat bogs), maritime hills and high tops and the distinctive bird assemblages are described together with details of the natural history of the more important species. The book will appeal to the informed layman and to the keen bird-watcher who wants to learn more about the life of upland birds and the ways in which they are adapted to their environments.

British Plant Communities is the first systematic and comprehensive account of the vegetation types of this country. It covers all natural, semi-natural and major artificial habitats in Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland), representing the fruits of fifteen years of research by leading plant ecologists. The book breaks new ground in wedding the rigorous interest in the classification of plant communities that has characterized Continental phytosociology with the deep concern traditional in Great Britain to understand how vegetation works. The published volumes have been greeted with universal acclaim, and the series has become firmly established as a framework for a wide variety of teaching, research and management activities in ecology, conservation and land-use planning.