Showing 1–12 of 143 results
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Primate communities.
Artist/Author: Fleagle, J. G. et al.$40.00 Add to cartComprehensive and unique volume exploring the differences and similarities between primate communities worldwide.
Although the behaviour and ecology of primates have been more thoroughly studied than that of any other group of mammals, there have been very few attempts to compare the communities of living primates found in different parts of the world. In Primate communities, an international group of experts compares the composition, behaviour and ecology of primate communities in Africa, Asia, Madagascar and South America. They examine the factors underlying the similarities and differences between these communities, including their phylogenetic history, climate, rainfall, soil type, forest composition, competition with other vertebrates and human activities. As it brings together information about primate communities from around the world for the very first time, it will quickly become an important source book for researchers in anthropology, ecology and conservation, and a readable and informative text for undergraduate and graduate students studying primate ecology, primate conservation or primate behaviour. -
Galapagos: preserving Darwin’s legacy.
Artist/Author: De Roy, Tui.$71.00 Add to cartThis sumptuous large-format book was first produced in 2009 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Charles Darwin Foundation on Galapagos. The book comprises a series of invited essays under the editorship of world-renowned photographer and long-term Galapagos resident, Tui de Roy, who has also provided most of the photographs. The authoritative essays cover the entire spectrum of Galapagos wildlife including the marine environment, unique vegetation such as sunflower trees as well as wildlife including giant tortoises, marine iguanas, sea lions and the Galapagos finches that inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution. This new edition has significant updates to a number of chapters including brand new photography and information about scientific developments elsewhere and a new jacket.
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The new wild: why invasive species will be nature’s salvation.
Artist/Author: Pearce, Fred.$35.00 Add to cartVeteran environmental journalist Fred Pearce used to think of invasive species as evil interlopers spoiling pristine ‘natural’ ecosystems. Most conservationists would agree with this, but what if traditional ecology is wrong, and true environmentalists should be applauding the invaders? In this book, Pearce goes on a journey to rediscover what conservation should really be about. He explores ecosystems from Pacific islands to the Australian outback to the Thames estuary, digs into the questionable costs of invader species, and reveals the outdated intellectual sources of our ideas about the balance of nature. Keeping out alien species looks increasingly flawed. The new ecologists looking afresh at how species interact in the wild believe we should celebrate the dynamism of alien species and the novel ecosystems they create. In an era of climate change and widespread ecological damage, we must find ways to help nature regenerate. Embracing the ‘new wild’ is our best chance. Also available in paperback [Stock ID: 38945]
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The rise and fall of Gunns Ltd.
Artist/Author: Beresford, Quentin.$33.00 Add to cartAt its peak, Gunns Ltd had a market value of $1 billion, was listed on the ASX 200, was the largest employer in the state of Tasmania and its largest private landowner. Most of its profits came from woodchipping, mainly from clear-felled old-growth forests and pulp mill was central to its expansion plans. Its collapse in 2012 was a major national news story, as was the arrest of its CEO for insider trading. Here, Beresford illuminates for the first time the dark corners of the Gunns empire. He shows it was built on close relationships with state and federal governments, political donations and use of the law to intimidate and silence its critics. Gunns may have been single-minded in its pursuit of a pulp mill in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley, but it was embedded in an anti-democratic and corrupt system of power supported by both main parties, business and unions. Simmering opposition to Gunns and all it stood for ramped up into an environmental campaign not seen since the Franklin Dam protests. Fearless and forensic in its analysis, the book shows that Tasmania’s decades-long quest to industrialise nature fails every time. But the collapse of Gunns is the most telling of them all.
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The Southwest: Australia’s biodiversity hotspot.
Artist/Author: Laurie, Victoria.$45.00 Add to cartIn this lavishly illustrated book, Victoria Laurie uncovers the southwest of Australia, a triangle of land that encompasses a multitude of natural worlds. One third of all known Australian plant species is found growing in the southwest, and the region has been designated ‘Australia’s Global Biodiversity Hotspot,’ one of only thirty-four such hotspots in the world and the only one on this continent. Driven by her own passion for this country, Laurie presents us with the voices of scientists and those dedicated to protecting a fragile ecology supporting up to 150,000 species. Life forms and landscapes are a feature of this informative and thrilling discovery of a region that has evolved with abundant biodiversity because of its isolation.
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Under Kalahari skies: ecology and conservation in Botswana.
Artist/Author: Hartnett, David C.$48.00 Add to cartTemporary out of stock until 2016. Starting with close observation of the region’s ecology and biology, Hartnett unpacks the stories and challenges of a country which, in many ways, is a model of conservation for the African continent.
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Sustainable futures: linking population, resources and the environment.
Artist/Author: Goldie, Jenny and Katharine Betts.$40.00 Add to cartSustainable Futures explores the links between population growth, diminishing resources and environmental challenges, and what they mean for Australia’s future. Written by leaders in their fields, and based on presentations from the 2013 Fenner Conference on ‘Population, Resources and Climate Change’, this book is a timely insight into the intertwined challenges that we currently face, and what can be done to ensure a sustainable and viable future. The book identifies the major areas of concern for Australia’s future, including environmental, social and economic implications of population growth, mineral and natural resources, food, land and water issues, climate change and the obstacles and opportunities for action. Accessible, informative and authoritative, Sustainable Futures will be of interest to policy makers, students and professionals in the fields of sustainability and population growth.
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Running out: water in Western Australia.
Artist/Author: Morgan, Ruth A.$35.00 Add to cartRuth Morgan explores the people of Australia’s west’s fear of running out of water – a fear that has long concerned the region’s inhabitants and loomed large on the state’s political agenda. It has shaped how urban and rural Western Australians learned to live with the effects of a variable climate on their water supply, lifestyle, and livelihood. This is a story of hardship and persistence; of inclusion, exclusion and defiant profligacy in the face of growing scarcity, through a period of great development and social change. An engrossing environmental history that offers a new understanding of the past, this book questions this way of life as we approach an uncertain future in a drying climate.
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Feral: rewilding the land, sea and human life.
Artist/Author: Monbiot, George.$23.00 Add to cartIn this book, George Monbiot, one of the world’s most celebrated radical thinkers, follows his own hunger for new environmental experiences, in a riveting tale of possibility and travel with wildlife and wild people. Feral is the lyrical and gripping story of George Monbiot’s efforts to re-engage with nature and discover a new way of living. He shows how, by restoring and rewilding our damaged ecosystems on land and at sea, we can bring wonder back into our lives. Making use of some remarkable scientific discoveries, this book lays out a new, positive environmentalism, in which nature is allowed to find its own way.
From the seas of north Wales, where he kayaks among feeding frenzies of dolphins and seabirds, to the forests of Eastern Europe, where lynx stalk and packs of wolves roam, George Monbiot shows how rewilding could repair the living planet, creating ecosystems in the UK as profuse and captivating as any around the world. Also available in hardcover [stock id 37330]. -
Snake oil: how fracking’s false promise of plenty imperils our future.
Artist/Author: Heinberg, Richard.$17.00 Add to cartThe rapid spread of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has temporarily boosted US natural gas and oil production whilst also sparking a massive environmental backlash in communities across the country. The fossil-fuel industry is trying to sell fracking as the biggest energy development of the century, with slick promises of American energy independence and benefits to local economies. This book casts a critical eye on the oil-industry hype that has hijacked America’s energy conversation. This is the first book to look at fracking from both economic and environmental perspectives, informed by the most thorough analysis of shale gas and oil drilling data ever undertaken.
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Project planning and management for ecological restoration.
Artist/Author: Rieger, John, John Stanley and Ray Traynor.$60.00 Add to cartAddresses a lack of understanding of the principles of sound planning and management that is the reason many current restoration projects are not as effective or successful as they could be. With decades of experience implementing successful restoration projects, the authors provide a straightforward framework for developing and executing an ecological restoration project in order to maximize its potential for success. The authors focus on process, planning, design, implementation, and management rather than science. They describe a simple project management plan, identify the design approaches and the commitments that decisions require, and explain how design theory is translated to on-the-ground project design. The book includes numerous illustrations, as well as a series of checklists and tables to help restorationists recognize and then correct problems that may arise.
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Extinct Madagascar: picturing the island’s past.
Artist/Author: Goodman, Steven M. et al.$79.00 Add to cartSince the arrival of the island’s first human settlers, the vast majority of Madagascar’s forests have disappeared, and in the wake of this loss many species endemic to Madagascar have vanished forever. In Extinct Madagascar, noted scientists Steven M. Goodman and William L. Jungers explore the recent past of these animal extinctions. Beginning with an introduction to the geologic and ecological history of Madagascar that provides context for the evolution, diversification, and, in some cases, rapid decline of the Malagasy fauna, Goodman and Jungers then seek to recapture these extinct mammals in their environs.
Aided in their quest by artist Velizar Simeonovski’s beautiful and haunting paintings – images of both individual species and ecosystem assemblages reproduced here in full color – the authors reconstruct the lives of these lost animals and trace their relationships to those still living. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of Simeonovski’s paintings set to open at the Field Museum, Chicago, in the second half of 2014, Goodman and Jungers’ awe-inspiring book will serve not only as a sobering reminder of the very real threat of extinction, but also as a stunning tribute to Madagascar’s biodiversity and a catalyst for further research and conservation.
