Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs

Do you need to use research methods to understand and assess forests?

Forest Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques, the latest title in the Techniques in Ecology & Conservation Series will help you do just that. Includes comprehensive coverage of: the framework for constructing a study to achieve accuracy, relevance and value; assessing forest extent and cover using GIS & mapping; measuring forest structure and composition by various sampling methodologies such as species diversity, floristic diversity, and stand structure; understanding and modelling forest dynamics such as disturbance, light and population dynamics; reproductive ecology and genetic variation including seed ecology and relevant markers for molecular studies and; progress towards effective forest conservation.

The approach that this series takes is one of pure practicality – this is the manual you need to plan and carry out your forest conservation fieldwork.

Copies in stock now at NHBS Environment Bookstore

This isn’t a new book, in fact, it isn’t even a book – Whose Tadpole: The Waterproof Field Guide to Central European Amphibians is a selection of laminated cards that enable the reader to identify 20 species of European amphibians from both adults, larvae and all intermediate life stages – but it is the first time I’ve seen a copy. There are numerous colour photos for each species including key diagnostic features and larvae at different sizes. Keys to both adults and larvae are clearly constructed and a table lists species common names in 11 European languages. The format is pocket-sized and a useful ruler on the edge of every page aids identification.

The species information includes distribution data, general behavioural notes and an excellent description of calls e.g. The Yellow Bellied Toad Bombina variegata: “bright, musical ‘poop…poop…poop’, separated by less than 1sec”.

Highly Recommended! Order now from NHBS Environment Bookstore

A colleague and I watched bats feeding from the 23rd floor of a Barcelona hotel last week. Lit up blue by the neon roof advertising lights they were a magical sight in the centre of the city. Bats are typically considered roosting in caves or old buildings – Bats in Forests: Conservation and Management highlights in-depth the less well known but hugely important interaction between bats and forested areas at a time of alarming decline in the populations of many species.

You may also be interested in Bat Ecology – the classic reference work on bats; the new research on bat migrations in Bat Migrations in Europe; for ecologists and land managers The Bat Workers Manual, Habitat Management for Bats, and The Bat Builder’s Handbook.

Back in January, Nigel, when blogging the excellent Trace Fossils: Concepts, Problems, Prospects mentioned the then forthcoming publication of Trace Fossil Analysis by Crafoord Prize winner and perhaps the world’s most acknowledged expert in the field of trace fossils, Professor Adolf Seilacher. This is now published and in stock at NHBS.

The preface clearly outlines the key aim of this book, as distinct from that of any other on this subject: ‘to confer not knowledge, but skill’. Using this motto the author has designed the book in a way which fosters interpretative skills – using his own exceptionally detailed drawings (see below) as the key resource, which have been arranged in such a way that they make a story and wait for the addition of the reader’s own colourful scribblings.

This book is highly recommended for students, professors, researchers and those non-professionals interested in palaeontology, and especially ichnology.

Some sample plates:

From the depths of the densest forest, of the world’s fourth largest island arises one of the most spectacular limestone landscapes I have ever seen. ‘Like a lost city strecthed out to infinity’ as the author and one of the photographers, David Wolozan so elegantly puts it.

The ‘beauty and mystery’ of Madagascar’s Bemaraha National Park, aptly named the “stone forest” is truly captured by Tsingy – Stone Forest, Madagascar. From the deceiving “Tsingy” topography (from the Malagasy word “mitsingitsigina” or “to walk on tip toe”), where you’ll discover some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth, to the world of forest canyons, caves, karren and mangrove that lies beneath, to the interesting animals that inhabitat these environments, this book details it all with its series of breathtaking photographs and excellent commentary. ‘This book will lead you to their discovery…’

Suitable for all those interested generally in landscapes and landscape photography, to those who would simply like to see why this World Heritage site is fast becoming the most popular natural site in Madagascar, short of visiting it themselves. See the authors’ website (in French) for more details @ www.editionsaltus.com