Showing 1–12 of 20 results
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Protecting Pollinators: How to Save the Creatures That Feed Our World
Artist/Author: Helmer, JodiWe should thank a pollinator at every meal. These diminutive creatures fertilize a third of the crops we eat. Yet half of the 200,000 species of pollinators are threatened. Birds, bats, insects, and many other pollinators are disappearing, putting our entire food supply in jeopardy.
In North America and Europe, bee populations have already plummeted by more than a third and the population of butterflies has declined 31 percent. Protecting Pollinators explores why the statistics have become so dire and how they can be reversed. Jodi Helmer breaks down the latest science on environmental threats and takes readers inside the most promising conservation initiatives. Efforts include #famers reducing pesticides, cities creating butterfly highways, volunteers ripping up invasive plants, gardeners planting native flowers, and citizen scientists monitoring migration.
Along with inspiring stories of revival and lessons from failed projects, readers will find practical tips to get involved. They will also be reminded of the magic of pollinators – not only the iconic monarch and dainty hummingbird, but the drab hawk moth and homely bats that are just as essential. Without pollinators, the world would be a duller, blander place. Helmer shows how we can make sure they are always fluttering, soaring, and buzzing around us.
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Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW), Volume 9: Bats
Artist/Author: Don E., Russell A Mittermeier (Editors), Ilian Velikov, Blanca Martí de Ahumada, Alex Mascarell Llosa, Faansie Peacock, Jesús Rodríguez-Osorio Martín, Lluís Sogorb Mallebrera (Illustrators)Volume 9 completes the Handbook of Mammals of the World series, and it deals with the bats, order Chiroptera.
Our knowledge of bats has exploded in the past two decades, and all of that information is reflected in this volume. The number of recognized species has increased by more than 400 during that time and is still growing. Bats occupy almost every habitat on six continents and their ecology is incredibly diverse. Pollinators and seed dispersers for thousands of species of plants, bats are critical for the maintenance of tropical ecosystems.
As always, the text includes up-to-date information on every species, and each one is carefully illustrated. The family accounts include color photographs documenting a variety of behaviors of these interesting mammals.
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A Bat’s End: The Christmas Island Pipistrelle and Extinction in Australia
Artist/Author: Woinarski, JohnThe compelling story of a bat, the scientists who tried to save it, its island habitat – and its extinction.
On the evening of 26 August 2009, the last known pipistrelle emerges from its day-time shelter on Christmas Island. Scientists, desperate about its conservation, set up a maze of netting to try to catch it. It is a forlorn and futile exercise – even if captured, there is little future in just one bat. But the bat evades the trap easily, and continues foraging. It is not recorded again that night, and not at all the next night. The bat is never again recorded. The scientists search all nearby areas over the following nights. It has gone. There are no more bats. Its corpse is not, will never be, found. It is the silent, unobtrusive death of the last individual. It is extinction.
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Bats: A World of Science and Mystery
Artist/Author: Fenton, M Brock and Nancy B. Simmons.Bats make up almost a quarter of the world’s mammal species and play a fundamental role in our ecosystems. This book presents these fascinating nocturnal creatures in a new light. Lush, full-color photographs portray bats in flight, feeding, and mating in views that show them in exceptional detail. The photographs also take the reader into the roosts of bats, from caves and mines to the tents some bats build out of leaves. A comprehensive guide to what scientists know about the world of bats, the book begins with a look at bats’ origins and evolution. The book goes on to address a host of questions related to flight, diet, habitat, reproduction, and social structure.
A chapter on biosonar, or echolocation, takes readers through the system of high-pitched calls bats emit to navigate and catch prey. More than half of the world’s bat species are either in decline or already considered endangered, and the book concludes with suggestions for what we can do to protect these species for future generations to benefit from and enjoy. -
Flying-Foxes: Australian Night Foresters
Artist/Author: Jones, Vivien.The Grey-headed Flying-fox, or Pteropus poliocephalus is an Australian native mammal that plays a vital part in maintaining the health of forests along Australia’s eastern coast. The species is crucial to the regeneration of our native hardwood forests and rainforests acting as pollinator and disperser of seeds as it feeds. This book is a brilliant photographic essay about the Grey-Headed Flying-fox.
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Bat surveys: good practice guidelines.
Artist/Author: Bat Conservation Trust.Fully updated and revised to include the latest evidence and best practice, the second edition features new chapters and content, with new advice and guidance. Whilst focusing on efforts in the UK this is the essential reference and guide for anyone anywhere involved in professional bat work. New chapters include: Pre-planning considerations; Equipment and techniques; Assessing survey reports; Long term surveys for larger infrastructure projects; Surveying for wind farms; and, Interpreting results. With a renewed focus on catering for professional bat work; consultants; planners and others associated with development, the 2nd edition includes comprehensive coverage of the principles of good survey design; how to review and assess the quality of survey reports; and, the importance of data analysis and the interpretation of results.
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Evolutionary history of bats: fossils, molecules and morphology.
Artist/Author: Gunnell, Gregg F. and Nancy B. Simmons.This title is not held in stock but we are happy to supply on special order. Please contact us. Advances in morphological and molecular methods continue to uncover new information on the origin and evolution of bats. This book presents some of the most remarkable discoveries and research involving living and fossil bats, and explores their evolutionary history from a range of perspectives. Phylogenetic studies based on both molecular and morphological data have established a framework of evolutionary relationships that provides a context for understanding many aspects of bat biology and diversification. In addition to detailed studies of the relationships and diversification of bats, the topics covered include the mechanisms and evolution of powered flight, evolution and enhancement of echolocation, feeding ecology, population genetic structure, ontogeny and growth of facial form, functional morphology and evolution of body size. The book also examines the fossil history of bats from their beginnings over 50 million years ago to their diversification into one of the most globally wide-spread orders of mammals living today. Also available in hardcover [stock id 33897].
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A Natural History of Australian Bats: Working the Night Shift
Artist/Author: Richards, Greg, Les Hall and Steve Parish.Focuses on the natural history of Australian bats. The authors take the reader through the nation’s broad bioregions, describe what bats do in them, the ecosystem services that they provide, and some of the places where they can be seen. The book also features a brief description of the bat species in Australia, a section on bat myths, and stories and rock art from indigenous Australians. It is enhanced by stunning photographs from Steve Parish, most of which have never been seen before.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Greg Richards and Les Hall have both studied bats for over 40 years and together have compiled information Australia-wide and overseas. As professional wildlife scientists, they have always been
fascinated by these animals.
Steve Parish is a naturalist, photographer, publisher and promoter of nature and our environment, and has immersed himself in the natural world of Australia for the past five decades. -
Bats: from evolution to conservation.
Artist/Author: Altringham, John D.Bats are highly charismatic and popular animals that are not only fascinating in their own right, but illustrate most of the topical and important concepts and issues in mammalian biology. This book covers the key aspects of bat biology, including evolution, flight, echolocation, hibernation, reproduction, feeding and roosting ecology, social behaviour, migration, population and community ecology, biogeography, and conservation. This new edition is fully updated and greatly expanded throughout, maintaining the depth and scientific rigour of the first edition. It is written with infectious enthusiasm, and beautifully illustrated with drawings and colour photographs. Also available in paperback [stock id 33380].
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Bats: A Wild Australia Guide
Artist/Author: Hall, Les.Bats are an amazing group of animals being the only mammals to have mastered true powered flight, yet they remain some of the most misunderstood and persecuted creatures. Author Les Hall shares his expert knowledge in this comprehensive and authoritative book, which was awarded best Pocket Guide in the 2010 Whitley Awards for natural history publishing. This Wild Australia Guide features information on habitats, breeding, predators and threats, the benefits from bats, bat conservation as well as caring for injured or orphaned bats. It aims to dispel the negative myths about these remarkable and intelligent mammals and demonstrate how engaging and fascinating bats really are!
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Island Bats: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
Artist/Author: Fleming, Theodore H. and Paul A. Racey.The second largest order of mammals, Chiroptera comprises more than one thousand species of bats. Because of their mobility, bats are often the only native mammals on isolated oceanic islands, where more than half of all bat species live. These island bats represent an evolutionarily distinctive and ecologically significant part of the earth’s biological diversity. Island Bats is the first book to focus solely on the evolution, ecology, and conservation of bats living in the world’s island ecosystems. Among other topics, the contributors to this volume examine how the earth’s history has affected the evolution of island bats, investigate how bat populations are affected by volcanic eruptions and hurricanes, and explore the threat of extinction from human disturbance. Geographically diverse, the volume includes studies of the islands of the Caribbean, the Western Indian Ocean, Micronesia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and New Zealand. With its wealth of information from long-term studies, Island Bats provides timely and valuable information about how this fauna has evolved and how it can be conserved.
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Australian Bats
Artist/Author: Churchill, Sue.OUT OF PRINT. A completely revised and redesigned edition of the best book on Australian bats with an excellent colour photograph for every species, distribution maps, identification keys and substantial rewrites of description, biological information and echolocation calls for all 75 Australian bat species. Winner of the 2009 Whitley Award for the best field guide.