Books in brief
Posted: 17 April 2002
Quick guide:
The Atlas of Endangered SpeciesRichard Mackay£11.99 (Paperback), Earthscan, London.ISBN: 1-85383-874-8 Up to 20 per cent of species may be extinct by 2030, a loss that could threaten our own security. The Atlas of Endangered Species locates and identifies different species of wildlife and shows how human survival depends on biodiversity. It traces the movement of animals and plants across continents and catalogues the inhabitants of different ecosystems including forests, wetlands and mangroves, coastal systems and coral reefs. It examines the major threats to biodiversity - from loss of habitat to hunting - and the steps being taken towards conservation.
Conserving Earth's Biodiversity CD-ROMEdward O. Wilson and Dan L. Perlman$39.95, Island Press, Washington DC, 2000. ISBN: 1-55963-773-0
This CD-ROM is an entirely new way to study and teach conservation biology and environmental science, including interactive models that allow learners to study dynamic systems, detailed maps, and links to resources on the World Wide Web. Based on the teachings and writings of renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson, it was created and developed by science educator Dan Perlman.
The Forgotten PollinatorsStephen L. Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan$27.50, Shearwater, Washington DC, 1996ISBN: 1-55963-352-2Without interaction between animals and flowering plants, the seeds and fruits that make up nearly 80 per cent of the human diet would not exist.In The Forgotten Pollinators, Stephen L. Buchmann, one of the world's leading authorities on bees and pollination, and Gary Paul Nabhan, award-winning writer and renowned crop ecologist, explore the vital relationship between plants and the bees, beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bats, and countless other animals, they depend on for reproduction.
In Search of NatureEdward O. Wilson$19.95 Shearwater, Washington DC, 1996 ISBN: 1-55963-215-1Perhaps more than any other scientist of our century, Edward O. Wilson hasscrutinized animals in their natural settings, tweezing out the dynamics oftheir social organisation, their relationship with their environments, and their behavior. The grace and precision with which he writes of complex topics has earned him two Pulitzer prizes, and the admiration of scientists and general readers around the world. In Search of Nature presents for the first time a collection of the seminal short writings of Edward O. Wilson, addressing in brief and eminently readable form the themes that have actively engaged this remarkable intellect throughout his career.
Jaguar:One Man's Struggle to Establish the World's First Jaguar PreserveAlan Rabinowitz $16.95, Island Press, Washington DC, 2000ISBN: 1-55963-802-8In 1983, zoologist Alan Rabinowitz ventured into the rain forest of Belize,determined to study the little-known jaguar in its natural habitat and to establish the world's first jaguar preserve. Within two years, he had succeeded. In Jaguar he provides the only first-hand account of a scientist's experience with jaguars in the wild.
Nature Out of Place:Biological Invasions in the Global AgeJason Van Driesche and Roy Van Driesche $29.95, Island Press, Washington DC, 2000 ISBN: 1-55963-757-9Though the forests are still green and the lakes full of water, an unending stream of invasions is changing many ecosystems around the world from productive, tightly integrated webs of native species to loose assemblages of stressed native species and aggressive invaders. The earth is becoming what author David Quammen has called a "planet of weeds." Nature Out of Place brings this devastating but overlooked crisis.
Salmon Without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon CrisisJim Lichatowich$27.50, Island Press, Washington DC, 1999 ISBN: 1-55963-360-3
In Salmon Without Rivers, fisheries biologist Jim Lichatowich offers an eye-opening look at the roots and evolution of the salmon crisis in the Pacific Northwest. He describes the factors over the past century and a half that have led to the salmon's decline, and examines in depth the abject failure of restoration efforts that have focused almost exclusively on hatcheries to return salmon stocks to healthy levels without addressing the underlying causes of the decline.
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