Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs – Page 97 – The NHBS Conservation Hub

Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History

From the crops that have fed billions of people over the centuries to the plants highly regarded for their medicinal qualities, this fascinating offering from garden expert Bill Laws unearths the stories behind some of the world’s best-known plants. The plants are assessed by their influence in the categories of edible, medicinal, practical and commerical, allowing the reader to discover how each of the fifty featured plants has earnt its right to be regarded as changing the course of history. Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History draws upon some fascinating sources from ancient wall paintings to old Japanese wood blocks, depicting traditional methods of harvesting and preparing crops.

Our favourite plant from this book? Coffee

Coffea arabica – black gold. Thought to have been brought to the West by Marco Polo in the 13th Century, coffee is an economic, cultural and social phenomenon without parallel globally… and particularly in the office at NHBS.

Reed and Bush Warblers in stock at NHBS

Reed and Bush Warblers has just arrived at NHBS.

This detailed and comprehensive identification guide follows in the mould of “Sylvia Warblers” and “Pipits and Wagtails“. It primarily covers the genera Acrocephalus, Locustella, Cettia and Bradypterus together with a few smaller related genera.

Peter Kennerley & David Pearson’s authoritative handbook covers warbler identification in considerable detail, illustrated with line drawings, sonograms, colour plates and photographs. It is destined to become the ultimate reference for these challenging birds.

Batcorder: 5 easy steps to automatic bat identification

To find out how the Batcorder System works, watch the 6 minute demonstration video. This video will revolutionise your bat work! CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

The Batcorder and associated software is the most advanced bat detection and identification system available. Fast becoming the most popular choice in continental Europe, the Batcorder is set to revolutionise your bat work. Read on for a brief introduction to the Batcorder system and how it could benefit you.

Step 1. Batcorder – advanced data recorder

The Batcorder is the most advanced sound recorder available; such a high quality recording is essential for later analysis using the automatic recognition software. It records bat calls in real-time, whilst excluding other sounds such as crickets, rustling leaves, etc. Simply leave the Batcorder out in the field (battery life is 8 to 10 nights) and it will make high quality recordings (500kHz / 16 bit) of every bat call. Calls are recorded on an SDHC card (up to 32GB). The Batcorder is waterproof and fully programmable. Most importantly, the Batcorder features an omnidirectional microphone mounted on an extender. This eliminates reflection from the main body of the device whilst maintaining 360 degree coverage. The slim microphone tip minimises distortion, which can be a problem with other detectors that have wider microphone membranes.

Step 2. bcAdmin – call management software

Once you’ve got your recordings, bcAdmin provides an intuitive software package to manage the data. Individual calls are stored in connection with location, call length, time and other information. Search functions exist to aid in finding individual calls. Most importantly, bcAdmin automatically prepares the data for analysis using batIdent. Once the analysis is complete, bcAdmin can present the data in a variety of forms to provide instant graphical representation of bat activity.

Step 3. batIdent – free analysis software

At a click of the button, bcAdmin will import bat calls into batIdent, the freely available call analysis software. batIdent has a call library of 77,000 bat calls (and counting!) which can be used to identify 27 species from 11 genera (with some species only to genus). Utilising the freely available statistical package R, batIdent performs single call analysis in a multi step process. Illustrated below is the decision tree which it uses to identify bats. The tree also shows which bats can be identified by batIdent to species and which bats to genus. Currently the call library covers all mid and northern European species and most Mediterranean species. During a typical analysis, batIdent will identify 85% of the calls recorded. The remaining 15% will be excluded as the recording is of insufficient quality or duration to make a positive identification. Up to three species can be identified in any one recording and a percentage probability is provided for each species identification.

Step 4. bcAnalyse – manual analysis software

For those wanting to perform additional manual analysis on calls, the additional software package bcAnalyse is also available. bcAnalyse lets you view the oszillogram, spectrum and sonogram of the sound file. The user friendly design means you can quickly browse calls and select sound to be transformed into a sonogram or spectral display. bcAnalyse allows you to manually confirm batIdent results or analyse recordings made using other systems.

Step 5. Economies of Scale

The Batcorder system scales effortlessly for large projects. Each microphone is supplied with a correction factor, so recordings from different Batcorders can be directly compared. Check out the Wind Turbine Extension to find out how the Batcorder can be deployed for wind farm studies. bcAdmin and batIdent eliminate the time taken for lengthy call analysis. Both the Batcorder and software packages have a proven track record and are on their second or third versions following improvements from earlier versions.

Batcorder

Click on the relevant link for more information on the Batcorder, Software and Accessories.

Woodland Creation for Wildlife and People in a Changing Climate

This lucid, beautifully illustrated and comprehensive guidebook is distributed by NHBS – both the authors are experts in habitat restoration and this publication is a significant contribution to approaching the challenges of woodland wildlife conservation in the 21st century.

Woodland Creation for Wildlife and People in a Changing Climate: Principles and Practice, written by David Blakesley and Peter Buckley, and sponsored by the RSPB, Woodland Trust and the Eden Project has recently been published. New native woodland has the potential to make a significant contribution to wildlife conservation in Britain, by supporting flora and fauna characteristic of both woodland and wider countryside habitat. For example, woodland creation provides opportunities for a number of strongly declining woodland birds characteristic of young woodland, such as tree pipit, willow warbler and garden warbler. The bird species benefiting from new woodlands will depend on a number of factors, such as the woodland type, stage of growth and location within the country. As new woodland matures it may be possible to maintain good populations of a number of woodland birds through coppice management or by providing scrub along rides and thewoodland edge.

Open habitats in woodlands are becoming increasingly important in a wider countryside context, with the loss of large areas of unimproved grassland, wetland and heathland. Rides and glades in new native woodland can support such communities, and act as stepping stones to facilitate the movement of species through often inhospitable agricultural landscapes. Even small fragments of open habitat in new native woodland can be important in their own right, supporting not just plants, but also a wide diversity of invertebrates, including many of the declining wider countryside butterflies such as small copper and small heath.

This book presents a comprehensive and extensively illustrated guide to the principles and practice of woodland creation. In the first part of the book, the issues underlying woodland creation projects are considered, such as the relevance of different woodland community types. The process of natural succession is described, illustrating the variety of wildlife that may colonise new woods, including birds, insects and plants. Ecosystem services provided by new woodland for people are examined, together with the threat of climate change, coping strategies for biodiversity, and the planning of woodland habitat networks and planting strategies.

In the second part, detailed practical information for anyone creating woodland is presented, from the planning and selection of sites, sourcing of seeds and selecting tree species to woodland design, layout and management. The creation of woodland edge habitat and open ground communities is given particular prominence.

This book should appeal to anyone with an interest in creating new native woodland, planting trees or conserving woodland wildlife.

Buy your copy of Woodland Creation for Wildlife and People in a Changing Climate

Discoveries of the Census of Marine Life – an interview with author Paul Snelgrove

Could you describe, for those who may not be aware, the Census of Marine Life?

The Census of Marine Life has been a 10 year program involving 2700 scientists from more than 80 countries around the world, focused on understanding the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the global oceans. The Census studied oceans past, oceans present, and oceans future, and found the ocean is richer, more connected, and changing more than we had realized.

How have you been involved in the project?

About 4 years ago, the Census leaders realized that a concerted effort was needed to bring together the many different elements of the project to produce a single coherent view of life in the ocean. They therefore asked me to Chair a group that would bring together Census results for a wide range of audiences, including the general public. One of the outputs of that effort is the book “Discoveries of the Census of Marine Life: Making Ocean Life Count”, which I wrote over the last year. It brings together over 1100 published scientific papers into a single story of the Census of Marine Life.

What does marine science hope to take forward from the knowledge gained from the project?

Knowledge of life in the oceans can help us sustain that life by making us better stewards and managers. In the past, our exploitation of life in the oceans has often proved unsustainable and with indirect and negative consequences to many species other than those targeted by our activities. We know that we have caused many changes, and that we must do better if we are to sustain a rich, healthy ocean environment that many believe is essential to productive fisheries and indeed for life on Earth. Globally, scientists now realize the rich diversity of life in the oceans is important and that by conserving species we can also improve the probability that we can sustain healthy oceans. Knowing where they move and congregate can help us identify areas that should be prioritized for protection. Ignorance has not been bliss for ocean life in the past, and we must do better.

Tell us about the book – what can a reader expect?

The book explains how the Census came about, what it discovered about life in the ocean, and why the information is important. The book includes many colour pictures illustrating the new species and diverse environments we studied, from the shoreline to the abyss. It explains how scientific data is collected, and what it tells us. In short, it tells the story of the Census from start to finish.

Buy your copy of Discoveries of the Census of Marine Life

Visit the official Census of Marine Life website

Urban Ecology – plus ecology special offer

Urban Ecology is the new volume in the Ecological Reviews Series published by Cambridge University Press.

From now until the end of the year (31/12/10) you can save 10% on other volumes in this series:

Guide to Mist Nets

Please note, the sale of mist nets is restricted to those with an appropriate licence or permit. Please provide a copy when ordering.

NHBS offers a range of mist nets to meet specific requirements when catching bats or birds. All of our mist nets are manufactured to high standards and feature the following advantages;

Net design is based on more than 30 years experience.
All nets are made from the highest quality nylon and polyester netting.
All nets are black and UV sun-protected; the material and colours are durable and long-lasting.
The special knots used in all our nets help to prevent the loops and shelf strings from moving.
The construction with positioning strings prevents wind shift of the netting.
Each net comes with a cotton bag.

New Loops

All designs of net have recently been upgraded with new loops. Net loops are now marked with an indelible serial number to help track nets used illegally. The serial number is placed on one of the colour loops and on the product label as well. The new mist net loops are longer and stronger than previous designs. Top loops are colour-coded and equipped with stoppers to make fast setting easier. The new loops are also compatible with the telescopic mist net pole .

Understanding the Terminology

Net Dimensions

All net dimensions are given without loops and stretched to a standard tension. Nets of 3m are ideal for paths and small clearings, whilst nets in excess of 15m in length require careful setting. You should also ensure enough competent helpers are on hand to deal with large numbers of catches experienced by large nets.

Mesh Size

This is measured by one side of the square mesh, e.g. 16mm refers to a 16 x 16mm square mesh. The mesh size should be ideally suited to your chosen target species. If the mesh size is too small, the bat or bird may escape. If the mesh size is too large, the bat or bird may become overly tangled in the net. You also risk catching non-target species. Target species for each net are provided in the product description.

Shelves

The number of shelves (given in the product description) refers to the number of rows of shelves on the net. Nets of up to three shelves are tethered on a single shelf strand to prevent wind bunching the netting. Nets with four or five shelves feature two tethered strands.

Denier and Ply

The denier and ply of a net provide an indication of the thickness, visibility and strength of the net. Denier refers to the weight in grams of 9000 metres of thread. Ply refers to the number of threads of a given denier wound round one another to make the fibre of the net. The smaller the denier and ply, the lighter and thinner the net, e.g. a 70 denier/2 ply net is lighter, less visible, but normally less strong than a 210 denier/3 ply net. However, differing materials can confound this relationship, e.g. polyester is heavier than nylon so the same denier net will be finer in polyester than in nylon.

Choosing a Mist Net

A mist net must be ideally suited to the target species, location and conditions of use. To select the appropriate mist net, follow the stages below;

1. WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO CATCH?

Search the product pages to find all the nets suited to your chosen group. Mist nets have been divided into four groups;

Mist Nets for Bats: includes all species of bats

Mist Nets for Small Birds: includes all small passerines

Mist Nets for Medium-sized Birds: includes medium-sized passerines, waders, small ducks, small to medium terns, small owls, small raptors

Mist Nets for Large Birds: includes medium to big waders, owls, medium to big raptors, medium to big ducks, geese and cormorants.

2. CHOOSE BETWEEN NET TYPES

There are several net types to choose between, although not every net type will be found in every group of target individuals.

Ultra Thin Series M Mist Net

These nearly invisible ultra-thin monofilament nylon nets are perfect for catching the smallest birds (e.g. hummingbirds) and small bat species such as Pipstrellus sp. They are available in two mesh sizes (14 and 20mm).

Series 700P (polyester) Mist Net

These polyester nets are recommended for catching small bats and birds. They are barely visible and can be used in any habitat, including open areas. The polyester fibre in UV resistant and does not absorb moisture. In the morning or after rain, just shake the net to remove droplets. A well-stretched net has only one layer (no pockets) and bats are less likely to echolocate it than a nylon net. The polyester is also stronger and more durable than nylon.

Series 700 Mist Net

This classic design of net is deep black, UV stable and softer than polyester. They can be used for catching birds and bats in all kinds of habitat, including open areas. They are both popular and effective.

Series 1000 Mist Net

These nets are stronger and more durable than the Series 700 mist nets. They are ideal for long term use; they remain as strong and as black as new after 500 days of continuous exposure in the field. They are more visible than the Series 700 nets, so we recommend that they be set in front of trees or bushes to decrease visibility and to increase their effectiveness. They are very safe for birds and effectively catch small to medium-sized species.

Series 2000 Mist Net

These nets are very strong and durable and are primarily designed to catch relatively big birds. They are more visible than the Series 700 and 1000 nets so are most effective when used in shadow when the netting is less visible. The 19mm mesh size nets are most suited to catching birds at night, such as when using recorded calls.

3. CHOOSING SPECIFIC NETS

Once you’ve settled on your chosen net type to catch your target species, you should then consider the dimensions of the net. The mesh size should be ideally suited to the target species (see above). The length of the net should suit its location (e.g. path, clearing, open habitat) and the size of catch required. Make sure there are helpers to properly monitor the whole net. Consider the height of the net and number of shelves, the type and height of the vegetation in your sample area, as well as light conditions.

4. ERECTING THE NET

Finally, ensure the net is erected properly on suitable poles, such as the telescopic mist net pole. Nets may stretch over time so if left in place for prolonged periods, they must be tightened to keep the net taut. Ensure the nets are protected from overstretching – using a Mounting Set with rubber rope can help prevent this.

If you require any further information then please contact us. Mist nets are for use by trained ringers; you will need to supply a copy of your appropriate licence or permit when ordering.

An Introduction to IBAs from Adrian Long, Head of Communications, BirdLife International

Important Bird Areas (IBAs) form a worldwide network of sites for the conservation of birds. When complete, this global network is likely to comprise around 15,000 IBAs covering some 10 million km2 (c.7% of the world’s land surface) identified on the basis of about 40% of the world’s bird species. The effective conservation of these sites will contribute substantially to the protection of the world’s biological diversity.
IBAs are:

critical sites for the conservation of birds and biodiversity

places of international importance

practical targets for conservation action

selected according to internationally recognised criteria

used to reinforce existing protected area networks

used as part of a wider approach to conservation

Data collection and analysis play a highly influential role in underpinning the conservation and management of IBAs. Useful for conservationists, ornithologists, governmental and non-governmental agencies, policy-makers, researchers, consultants and planners, the data managed in the World Bird Database (WBDB) are intended to inform and guide practical management and actions at IBAs and to target political and legal mechanisms to achieve the adequate protection of IBAs.

Contributions have been made by a vast network of ornithologists, birdwatchers and conservation experts around the world. Many thousands of individuals have been involved in the collation of data. In most countries the relevant BirdLife International Partner has co-ordinated the work nationally, and this has generally involved substantial collaboration with governmental and non-governmental organisations.

As of March 2006 over 10,600 IBAs have been identified, mapped and documented in 234 countries (or territories/autonomous regions) and at sea by BirdLife. There are 115 National or sub National IBA Inventories and Five (six if you count Pacific CD) regional directories (Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Americas) published. A CD for (most of the) the Pacific has just been produced. Antarctic and marine directories are still in production. Most of these IBAs are available through NHBS, BirdLife’s global distribution partner – this catalogue is a summary of IBAs, key ornithological conservation books, and background reading on habitat and species protection.

We have put together a global guide to IBAs, featuring all the books – many published by BirdLife International – and field equipment necessary for those interested in, or working in, bird conservation.

Browse our IBAs buyer’s guide here

The Skeptical Environmentalist is back with Smart Solutions to Climate Change

Bjørn Lomborg shot to fame with The Skeptical Environmentalist in 2001, a book which generated a great deal of interest from scientists and the media alike. The debate which followed focused on Lomborg’s general assertion that much of what environmentalists claimed was not nearly as bad as they reported. From pollution to public health, and the extinction of biodiversity to climate change, Lomborg offered analysis to show a better than feared picture. Several books since (e.g. The Lomborg Deception) have taken Lomborg to task over his methods and choice of data, and much has been made, particularly by the climate deniers, of his dismissive coverage of global warming.

Well… following on from The Skeptical Environmentalist, and his later book Cool It, he’s back to answer his critics with a new edited book on our response to climate change. Smart Solutions to Climate Change takes catastrophic climate change as a starting point. “I am saying what I have always said” says Lomborg, “that the climate is a real and important, man-made problem, but that we are handling it badly”. A panel of authors (economists – including three Nobel laureates) examine a range of policy and technology responses to climate change and suggest we change emphasis – shifting away from a Kyoto/Copenhagen focus on reducing emissions, and instead invest $100 billion in new technology funded by a carbon tax.

This is an in-depth and fairly technical read, but thought provoking and accessible. No matter what your views on Lomborg, he is now addressing what many see as a looming reality – that we are not making anywhere near enough progress in responding to climate change, and that even building on what’s already been started will not fix the problem.

NHBS at ICES

NHBS will be opening shop at the annual ICES Annual Science Conference for the first time next week. We are looking forward to meeting the marine science community and are bringing a few hundred books to browse and buy. Do drop by if you are there, we’ll be at Stand 5 at the La Cite Events Center in Nantes, 20 – 24 September.

“ICES was established in 1902 as an intergovernmental organization[…]ICES grew from a small body of likeminded researchers to an organization involving about 1600 scientists, with 20 Member Countries as well as several Observer Countries and non-governmental organizations. ICES fulfils its functions through an Annual Science Conference, about a dozen committees, close to one hundred working and study groups, several annual symposia, and a wide range of publications” From the ICES Strategic Plan – A Vision Worth Sharing(pdf)

Click on any of the images below to see a selection of recent and forthcoming books on marine science: