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Bats are fascinating mammals about which we still have much to learn. As well as using ultrasonic echolocation calls for orientation and while foraging, they also have a complex array of vocalisations for communication. These are known as social calls and are an essential component of their colonial lifestyle.This book brings together the current state of knowledge of social calls relating to the bat species occurring within Britain and Ireland, with some additional examples from species represented elsewhere in Europe. It includes access to a downloadable library of calls to be used in conjunction with the book.Downloadable call librarySocial calls are complex and intriguing to listen to; they are after all produced with listeners in mind (other bats). To enjoy and fully appreciate social calls the reader must also have the opportunity to become a listener: each of the presented sonograms in the book is cross-referenced to downloadable 'time expanded' .wav sound files which are contained within a much wider library of calls for you to explore.Included in Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and IrelandThe authors start with an overview of the species of bats in Britain and Ireland (Chapter 1), and then introduce us to communication within the social world of bats (Chapter 2). Referencing the latest research, the authors explore how these calls can be classified according to their structure, and in many cases the context in which the calls are thought to be emitted (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 addresses aspects of survey methodology to be considered by those studying social calls. This leads on to the analysis of calls (Chapter 5), detailing the specific methods used and parameters commonly measured by researchers.The final, and main chapter (Chapter 6) introduces the 23 species covered in the book giving each a detailed profile including: habitat preferences, typical roosting locations, roost emergence times, mating strategies and maternity behaviour. Each species profile includes what is known about the social calls for that species and this text is supported by colour sonograms (created using Pettersson BatSound V4.1) of most of the calls discussed. Each sonogram is linked to a .wav sound file (Time Expansion x10) within the downloadable library. The sound files allow the reader to hear, as well as see, the calls produced using any bat sound analysis software that supports the .wav format.The authors conclude with a bibliography and an extensive list of references directly cross-referenced throughout the book.

Explore the colourful world of alpine flowers. This practical book will help you make a quick, reliable identification of over 500 species illustrated with colour photographs. For each plant the common name, scientific name, flowering time, plant height, protected status, and distribution (habitat and altitude) are described.

Game fishes, particularly those of the salmon family, are critical indicators of the health of those ecosystems upon which we now know we are dependent. As the authors of this important environmental book argue, "e;Our game fishes [then] serve as more than merely an indicator of healthy waters. Instead, they can be regarded as iconic of the ecosystems in which they occur."e; Moreover, "e;the quality requirements of different types of fish population have formed the backbone of a great deal of water management in the UK, Europe and the USA over several decades."e;With sections on how and why Britain's game fishes are under pressure from changes in land use, agriculture, housing needs, etc. - and their concomitant pollution effects - this book assesses how our knowledge of these game fishes reflect the changing values we place on our surrounding wildlife.

The snails found living on rocky sea shores are among the most rewarding invertebrate animals to study. Species such as dog-whelks, topshells and winkles are easy to find, capture, identify, measure and mark. This book provides a key to common species, background ecology, an overview of rocky shore habitats and the techniques required for anyone to study this fascinating and accessible fauna.

This revised and updated edition of Ladybirds provides a succinct but comprehensive and accessible overview of the biology of ladybirds and their parasites, focusing on ecology in an evolutionary context. It provides the latest information, coverage of recent additions to the British list including the harlequin ladybird, and makes suggestions for further research, both short and long term, highlighting gaps in knowledge and showing readers how to get involved with recording and studying ladybirds. It includes updated keys for the identification of ladybirds at late-instar larval and adult stages, and techniques for studying ladybirds and their parasites in both laboratory and field.The authors hope that this book will be a valuable resource, not only for students, from school to university and beyond, but also for anyone with an interest in natural history, whether professional or recreational.

An indispensable guide to identification, ecology and study of bumblebees. This new edition embraces the wealth of information published on bumblebee life history, ecology, foraging, parasites and conservation in recent years. It includes a new chapter on the very real threats to bumblebees; their crucial role as pollinators of our native flora and crops; ways to promote their survival; advantages and problems posed by their commercial use; as well as updated colour plates, keys and distribution maps of all British species (including Bombus hypnorum).The book introduces techniques and approaches to original work so that anyone with an interest can usefully contribute to furthering our understanding and appreciation of these wonderful and important insects.

Leaf beetles are one of the largest groups of beetles, with tens of thousands of species worldwide and around 280 in Britain. They belong mainly to the family Chrysomelidae, but also to two small closely related families, the Megalopodidae and Orsodacnidae. This book provides a comprehensive overview with detailed and accessible coverage of the natural history, ecology and biology of leaf beetles.Topics cover the life history of leaf beetles, biology, their environment, natural enemies and interactions with humans. There is a thorough discussion about identification of British species, including detail on the juvenile stages (eggs, larvae, pupae) and a concise key to adults. A chapter is dedicated to study techniques and materials. The book is illustrated throughout with colour photographs and line drawings.Leaf beetles is a vital resource for entomology students and educators, naturalists, nature conservationists, those involved in agriculture, horticulture and the management of stored produce.

This volume is devoted to the causes of amphibian decline and to conservation measures in Northern Europe. Experts from each country describe the ecological background and the conservation status of affected species, with an emphasis on native species.

This is a book about the scientific process and how you apply it to data in ecology. You will learn how to plan for data collection, how to assemble data, how to analyze data and finally how to present the results. The book uses Microsoft Excel and the powerful Open Source R program to carry out data handling as well as producing graphs.Statistical approaches covered include: data exploration; tests for difference - t-test and U-test; correlation - Spearman's rank test and Pearson product-moment; association including Chi-squared tests and goodness of fit; multivariate testing using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis test; and multiple regression.Key skills taught in this book include: how to plan ecological projects; how to record and assemble your data; how to use R and Excel for data analysis and graphs; how to carry out a wide range of statistical analyses including analysis of variance and regression; how to create professional looking graphs; and how to present your results.New in this edition: a completely revised chapter on graphics including graph types and their uses, Excel Chart Tools, R graphics commands and producing different chart types in Excel and in R; an expanded range of support material online, including; example data, exercises and additional notes & explanations; a new chapter on basic community statistics, biodiversity and similarity; chapter summaries and end-of-chapter exercises.Praise for the first edition:This book is a superb way in for all those looking at how to design investigations and collect data to support their findings. - Sue Townsend, Biodiversity Learning Manager, Field Studies Council[M]akes it easy for the reader to synthesise R and Excel and there is extra help and sample data available on the free companion webpage if needed. I recommended this text to the university library as well as to colleagues at my student workshops on R. Although I initially bought this book when I wanted to discover R I actually also learned new techniques for data manipulation and management in Excel - Mark Edwards, EcoBloggingA must for anyone getting to grips with data analysis using R and excel. - Amazon 5-star reviewIt has been very easy to follow and will be perfect for anyone. - Amazon 5-star reviewA solid introduction to working with Excel and R. The writing is clear and informative, the book provides plenty of examples and figures so that each string of code in R or step in Excel is understood by the reader. - Goodreads, 4-star review

Flora of Madeira is the first book to describe fully all of the vascular plants of the Madeiran and Salvage Islands. It covers over 1360 species of native and naturalized plants, many of them little known. A high proportion of taxa, some 16%, are endemic to the islands themselves or are restricted to Macaronesia.

The Effective Ecologist covers the stuff that no-one told you about at university - how to develop your office-related and business skills to succeed in your career as a professional ecologist.This book shows you how to be more effective in your role, providing you with the skills and effective behaviours within the workplace that will enable your development as an ecologist.It explains what it means to be effective in the workplace and describes positive behaviours and how they can be adopted. It contains the skills needed for effective communication, organising projects, advice on planning, reporting and meetings and provides you with everything you need for a brilliant and successful career.In a clearly written and honest account full of real life examples, the author leaves no stone unturned as he describes how making small changes in your behaviour can have a positive impact upon your performance and how you are perceived in your working environment.Essential reading for anyone commencing or already pursuing a career in ecology who wants to perform at the highest level. In addition this work will be of great interest to team managers, business leaders and those responsible for the development of staff as a point of reference and guidance for their team.

The old county of Glamorgan has a rich and diverse flora with over 80% of the vascular plant flora of Wales being recorded in the county. This account, first published in 1994, was the first to treat fully its lower plants. It draws together information on the ecology, abundance and distribution of higher plants, mosses, liverworts and lichens.

This book brings together scientific evidence and experience relevant to the practical conservation of wild bees. The authors worked with an international group of bee experts and conservationists to develop a global list of interventions that could benefit wild bees.

New species of animal and plant are being discovered all the time. When this happens, the new species has to be given a scientific, Latin name in addition to any common, vernacular name. In either case the species may be named after a person, often the discoverer but sometimes an individual they wished to honour or perhaps were staying with at the time the discovery was made. Species names related to a person are 'eponyms'. Many scientific names are allusive, esoteric and even humorous, so an eponym dictionary is a valuable resource for anyone, amateur or professional, who wants to decipher the meaning and glimpse the history of a species name.Sometimes a name refers not to a person but to a fictional character or mythological figure. The Forest Stubfoot Toad Atelopus farci is named after the FARC, a Colombian guerrilla army who found refuge in the toad's habitat and thereby, it is claimed, protected it. Hoipollo's Bubble-nest Frog Pseudophilautus hoipolloi was named after the Greek for 'the many', but someone assumed the reference was to a Dr Hoipollo. Meanwhile, the man who has everything will never refuse an eponym: Sting's Treefrog Dendropsophus stingi is named after the rock musician, in honour of his 'commitment and efforts to save the rainforest'.Following the success of their Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles, the authors have joined forces to give amphibians a similar treatment. They have tracked down 1,609 honoured individuals and composed for each a brief, pithy biography. In some cases these are a reminder of the courage of scientists whose dedicated research in remote locations exposed them to disease and even violent death. The eponym ensures that their memory will survive, aided by reference works such as this highly readable dictionary. Altogether 2,668 amphibians are listed.

This book covers the species att ributed to the orders Cryptonemiales, Palmariales and Rhodymeniales. Each species description incorporates notes on ecology and distribution and is supported by one or more line illustrations. Keys to aid identification are also included.

Carnivores include some of the most impressive, dangerous and mysterious animals in the world. Hans Kruuk has spent his life studying them against magnificent backdrops, from the Serengeti savannahs and Kalahari deserts to the Scottish Highlands, from the Galapagos Islands to the Far East. In each location he has used meticulous observation of animal behaviour to understand the ecology and natural history of wild carnivore populations, and ultimately to promote their conservation.This book describes the methods, challenges and rewards of the science of behavioural ecology. However, it essentially concerns the personal, rather than the scientific, side of that work, and above all the field experiences involved. With photographs and line drawings, it brings to life African safaris, the hyena in his bath, flights with vultures, dives with otters, attacks by a badger in Scotland and by feral dogs in Galpagos, gull-eating hedgehogs in Britain and the role of animals in African witchcraft. The author communicates his lifelong fascination with wildlife through these unique experiences and the insights they afforded him.Professor Kruuk is a leading authority on animal behaviour and the author of classic studies of hyaenas, otters and badgers, as well as a biography of his Oxford mentor Niko Tinbergen.

Mountain Flowers & Trees of Caucasia describes and illustrates in full colour nearly all the wild flowers, trees and shrubs that can be found over 1,000 metres above sea level - 1,009 species.

Bob Earll explores what marine conservation involves in practice by providing a synthesis of the main developments from the viewpoints of 19 leading practitioners who have shape its progress and successes. Case studies describe a wide range of European and international projects.

Arthur Milnes Marshall was a 19th-century scientist who gave academic and public lectures covering evolution, embryology, development and inheritance. Prof. Martin Luck has re-discovered these lectures - his careful curation, introductions to each lecture and copious annotations illuminate their significance as prequels to modern biology.

A species identification guide to the 160 species of bat described in the Amazon region, including a morphological identification key with stunning photographs and an acoustic key for Amazonian bats illustrated with the echolocation spectrogram of most species.

A comprehensive guide to designing and carrying out ecological investigations, especially those involving sampling invertebrates. The book is a highly practical guide to fieldwork, statistical testing and interpretation.

This Naturalists' Handbook book covers the natural history, biology and identification of the hoverfly. It will enable anyone to identify the most common hoverflies of the British Isles, providing practical guidance for methods of identification, advice on techniques and approaches to research.

This Naturalists' Handbook aims to attract more people to the study of solitary wasps by describing the ecology, distribution and natural history of these insects, including all relevant research in one convenient volume.

Providing a thorough overview of recent research on grassland restoration and its implications for practical restoration and management, this book introduces grassland communities and the wildlife they support and considers the management of semi-natural grassland habitats with particular emphasis on drier grassland habitats.

This volume is devoted to the causes of amphibian decline and to conservation measures in Southern Europe. Experts from each country describe the ecological background and the conservation status of affected species, with an emphasis on native species.

A comprehensive guide to everything scientists need to know about data management, this book is essential for researchers who need to learn how to organize, document and take care of their own data.Researchers in all disciplines are faced with the challenge of managing the growing amounts of digital data that are the foundation of their research. Kristin Briney offers practical advice and clearly explains policies and principles, in an accessible and in-depth text that will allow researchers to understand and achieve the goal of better research data management.Data Management for Researchers includes sections on:* The data problem - an introduction to the growing importance and challenges of using digital data in research. Covers both the inherent problems with managing digital information, as well as how the research landscape is changing to give more value to research datasets and code.* The data lifecycle - a framework for data's place within the research process and how data's role is changing. Greater emphasis on data sharing and data reuse will not only change the way we conduct research but also how we manage research data.* Planning for data management - covers the many aspects of data management and how to put them together in a data management plan. This section also includes sample data management plans.* Documenting your data - an often overlooked part of the data management process, but one that is critical to good management; data without documentation are frequently unusable.* Organizing your data - explains how to keep your data in order using organizational systems and file naming conventions. This section also covers using a database to organize and analyze content.* Improving data analysis - covers managing information through the analysis process. This section starts by comparing the management of raw and analyzed data and then describes ways to make analysis easier, such as spreadsheet best practices. It also examines practices for research code, including version control systems.* Managing secure and private data - many researchers are dealing with data that require extra security. This section outlines what data falls into this category and some of the policies that apply, before addressing the best practices for keeping data secure.* Short-term storage - deals with the practical matters of storage and backup and covers the many options available. This section also goes through the best practices to insure that data are not lost.* Preserving and archiving your data - digital data can have a long life if properly cared for. This section covers managing data in the long term including choosing good file formats and media, as well as determining who will manage the data after the end of the project.* Sharing/publishing your data - addresses how to make data sharing across research groups easier, as well as how and why to publicly share data. This section covers intellectual property and licenses for datasets, before ending with the altmetrics that measure the impact of publicly shared data.* Reusing data - as more data are shared, it becomes possible to use outside data in your research. This chapter discusses strategies for finding datasets and lays out how to cite data once you have found it.This book is designed for active scientific researchers but it is useful for anyone who wants to get more from their data: academics, educators, professionals or anyone who teaches data management, sharing and preservation."e;An excellent practical treatise on the art and practice of data management, this book is essential to any researcher, regardless of subject or discipline."e; -Robert Buntrock, Chemical Information Bulletin

"e;Evidence bases for conservation are becoming increasingly important to convince landowners and politicians of the need to take action in defence of species and habitats all around the world. A valuable feature of this book is its emphasis on collecting and analysing such essential information."e; Trevor Beebee, PhyllomedusaAmphibians are among the most globally endangered groups of vertebrates with more than one-third of species being assessed as declining or threatened. Often, amphibian declines can be attributed to a suite of interacting factors, many of which are human in origin, but further information is needed to elaborate the key causes and to discover ways of reversing declines.Robust surveys provide vital ecological and biological data on amphibian populations, and underpin the decisions made to protect species and reverse their declines. Ongoing monitoring informs land managers and decision makers about whether they are taking the right action. This book is designed to help you carry out amphibian surveying and monitoring so that the results of your surveys can be used effectively.Part 1 introduces amphibians: order Anura (frogs and toads); Caudata (newts and salamanders); and order Gymnophonia (caecilians).Part 2 is essential reading before you start surveying. It introduces the different types of survey and monitoring programmes and discusses survey aims and resources. It contains chapters on collecting and handling survey data; survey permissions and licencing; health and safety, and biosecurity; and handling amphibians.Part 3 discusses everything you need to know during your survey, and provides a detailed look at amphibian survey methods.Part 4 covers presenting and using your survey's data to best effect.A useful resources section is also provided, with example survey forms and details of additional information resources that will optimize the impacts of your surveys.Key amphibian survey techniques are discussed with reference to published examples of successful surveys - so you'll be able to choose what's right for your situation. Tips on optimizing your survey effort and handling amphibians in the field are also included. Whether carrying out a student expedition project or seeking information to support the management of a protected area, this book contains essential advice from an amphibian ecologist who has encountered the same sorts of decisions you'll face when planning your surveys.

Marine Mammal Observer and Passive Acoustic Monitoring Handbook is the ultimate instruction manual for mitigation measures to minimise man-made acoustical and physical disturbances to marine mammals from industrial and defence activities.Based on more than two decades of offshore experience, and a decade of supplying MMO and PAM services (commercial and scientific), the Handbook is a long-overdue reference guide that seeks to improve standards worldwide for marine operations such as seismic and drilling exploration, wind farm and civil engineering piling, dredging, trenching, rock-dumping, hydrographical surveys, and military/defence exercises. By popular request, this manual will also form an accompaniment to MMO and PAM courses.The Handbook consolidates all aspects of this discipline into one easily accessible resource, to educate all stakeholders (e.g. MMOs, PAM operators, suppliers, recruitment agencies, clients, contractors, regulators, NGOs, consultants, scientists, academia and media), regardless of experience.Topics include worldwide legislation, compliance, anthropogenic noise sources and potential effects, training, offshore life, visual and acoustic monitoring (theory and practice), marine mammal distribution, hearing and vocalisations, and report writing.Advice is provided on implementing sensible and practical mitigation techniques, appropriate technologies, data collection, client and regulator liaison, and project kick-off meetings."e;The Handbook is an indispensable How To guide to the growing and increasingly important occupation of marine mammal monitoring, written with clarity and humor by scientists who have extensive experience in this field."e; -Dr Phillip J. Clapham, world-renowned cetologist and Director of the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle.

This volume is devoted to the causes of amphibian decline and to conservation measures in Western Europe (Britain, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal). Experts from each country describe the ecological background and the conservation status of affected species, with an emphasis on native species.