This latest volume in the New Naturalist series provides a comprehensive study of wildlife conservation in Britain, concentrating on events in the last 30 years.

British woodlands and forests are often located on sites and in regions that are marginal for agriculture; many are at high elevations and exposed, with short growing seasons. Wherever forests are located, site and climatic conditions must dictate species choice in forest management. This book provides a detailed guide to the biological suitability of different sites and soils for all important native trees and the most extensively used exotics. Apart from physical difficulties such as steepness and stoniness, forest soils also frequently have problems associated with them. They can be waterlogged or drought-prone, suffer from extremes of acidity or alkalinity, or have compacted layers. The book provides information on species' suitability for different purposes. It includes details of species' origin and introduction (where applicable), as well as their climatic and soil requirements and other silvicultural characteristics. Information about provenance, yield and timber is also provided. Fully updated throughout, this 3rd edition puts more emphasis on species suitable for changing climatic conditions, with accounts of several species that may become more prominent in British forests: including several silver firs, hickories, eucalypts, spruces, poplars and wingnuts. The book concludes with simple keys for identifying the trees most likely to be encountered in British forests. It is an essential resource for students, researchers and forestry professionals.

Throughout British history rivers have been of profound economic, social and cultural importance – yet as we see with increasing frequency they have the potential to wreak great destruction. This book describes the natural and not-so-natural changes that have affected British rivers since the last ice age and looks at the many plants and animals that live along, above and within them. Detailed case studies of the Meon, Dee and Endrick illustrate the incredibly varied nature of our river ecosystems, and the natural and human factors that make each one different. Written by two widely respected river ecologists, the book looks not only at rivers as they were and are but also at how they can be managed and cared for. Full of interesting facts and stunning images, Rivers is essential reading for anyone professionally involved in rivers and for the naturalist, conservationist and layman alike. It is the one book you need to understand this singularly important and often contentious feature of the British landscape.

This totally new and much needed work on the County’s flora – published in association with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust – is the first comprehensive study for nearly a century. Excluding the Isle of Wight, it contains over 1750 species of vascular plants including some non-indigenous speces as well as subspecies, varieties and hybrids. In addition, condensed accounts of the lichens (590 taxa) and bryophytes (459 taxa) – groups in which the county is particularly rich – have been contributed by Francis Rose with Ken Sandell and Alan Crundwell respectively. As in Townsend’s Flora of Hampshire (1884), there are introductory chapters on Structure and Geology; Climate; Habitats; and an up-to-date Comparison of Hampshire’s Flora with some other southern Counties (including the Isle of Wight) – all by Francis Rose. There are also chapters on Conservation of the Flora (with a complete list of nature reserves) by Peter Brough and Paul Bowman; Some earlier Workers on the Hampshire Flora by David Allen; and Botanical Recording by Paul Bowman. The Flora ends with an extensive Bibliography and References and a fully comprehensive Index. The principal authors are all experienced Hampshire botanists with an intimate knowledge of its flora.

This edited volume documents the current nature conservation status of arable habitats in Europe. Arable farming systems have evolved in the European landscape over more than ten thousand years and now occupy nearly 30% of the European land area. They support species that have life cycles closely synchronised with traditional cereal growing, many of which have experienced massive declines throughout Europe. For example, in Britain, of the 100 plant species exhibiting the greatest declines in the latter half of the 20th century, 47 were typical of arable land. Despite this the habitat and many of the species associated with it remains unprotected across much of Europe. The 22 chapters cover a range of topics, including: · Regional accounts describing the impact of changing agricultural practices on the arable flora; · The results of research and surveillance projects on the soil organisms, bryophyte flora, invertebrate fauna and pollinators of arable habitats; · The potential for designing multifunctional and resilient agricultural landscapes; The use of ex situ conservation to aid the reintroduction of rare arable plants; · Case studies illustrating how changing agricultural practices have impacted on bird populations in Europe; · The roles of remote sensing in monitoring agricultural systems; · How agri-environment schemes can help restore the biodiversity in arable habitats; and · A look forward at ways to help ensure the future security of the species associated with arable habitats. It is clear that the biodiversity of arable land throughout Europe has undergone major changes, particularly during the second half of the 20th century, and that these changes are continuing into the 21st century. We need to develop a deeper appreciation of farmland wildlife and its integration into farming systems to ensure its future security in a world where value is increasingly expressed in terms of material profit. This book is particularly relevant to practitioners, policy-makers and managers working in the fields of nature conservation, agri-environment schemes and land management, and to researchers working in the fields of conservation biology, terrestrial ecology, nature conservation, applied ecology, biodiversity, agriculture, agricultural ethics and environmental studies.

"The book before you...carries the urgent warning that we are rapidly altering and destroying the environments that have fostered the diversity of life forms for more than a billion years." With those words, Edward O. Wilson opened the landmark volume Biodiversity (National Academy Press, 1988). Despite this and other such alarms, species continue to vanish at a rapid rate, taking with them their genetic legacy and potential benefits. Many disappear before they can even be identified. Biodiversity II is a renewed call for urgency. This volume updates readers on how much we already know and how much remains to be identified scientifically. It explores new strategies for quantifying, understanding, and protecting biodiversity, including: New approaches to the integration of electronic data, including a proposal for a U.S. National Biodiversity Information Center. Application of techniques developed in the human genome project to species identification and classification. The Gap Analysis Program of the National Biological Survey, which uses layered satellite, climatic, and biological data to assess distribution and better manage biodiversity. The significant contribution of museum collections to identifying and categorizing species, which is essential for understanding ecological function and for targeting organisms and regions at risk. The book describes our growing understanding of how megacenters of diversity (e.g., rainforest insects, coral reefs) are formed, maintained, and lost; what can be learned from mounting bird extinctions; and how conservation efforts for neotropical primates have fared. It also explores ecosystem restoration, sustainable development, and agricultural impact. Biodiversity II reinforces the idea that the conservation of our biological resources is within reach as long as we pool resources; better coordinate the efforts of existing institutionsâ€"museums, universities, and government agenciesâ€"already dedicated to this goal; and enhance support for research, collections, and training. This volume will be important to environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, educators, students, and concerned individuals.

How we view nature transforms the world around us. People rehearse stories about nature which make sense to them. If we ask the question 'why conserve nature?', and the answers are based on myths, then are these good myths to have? Scientific knowledge about the environment is fundamental to ideas about how nature works. It is essential to the conservation endeavour. However, any conservation motivation is nested within a society's meanings of nature and the way society values it. Given the therapeutic and psychological significance of nature for us and our culture, this book considers the meanings derived from the poetic and emotional attachment to a sense of place, which is arguably just as important as scientific evidence. The functional significance of species is important, but so too is the therapeutic value of nature, together with the historic and spiritual meanings entwined in a human feeling for landscape and wildlife.

Muntjac and water deer were introduced to Britain from East Asia. This book provides a comprehensive overview of their natural history and the management of their environmental impacts. In lowland England, muntjac deer are one of the drivers of changes in woodland structure and species composition, and many of the principles relating to such woodland impact are also applicable to the activities of other species of deer. Interest in environmental impacts of deer is not solely restricted to woodlands. The highest densities of water deer occur in wetlands, where there is potential for conflict, and considerable numbers are also found on agricultural land. Muntjac have also settled in suburbia and frequently cause impacts there. Conservationists and national decision makers are concerned both about invasive alien species and about increasing deer populations. The first section covers the natural history of both species including: breeding biology, deer in the field, colonisation of Britain, a detailed look at colonisation in a single county, methods for studying deer populations and a review of deer population numbers. The second section covers environmental impact: risk assessment, impact management, control of muntjac, effect of muntjac browsing and grazing, habitat recovery from muntjac impacts and a study on the impacts of water deer. The section concludes with an overview of management and monitoring. The costs and benefits of both species are discussed, and questions asked about whether we are getting on top of problems caused by muntjac (locally and nationally) and will water deer turn out to be similar to muntjac? Attitudes and approaches to these species are changing: with water deer we are actively studying whether it might be an environmental problem, not waiting until after it has obviously become one. What will happen to distribution, numbers, impacts and attitudes in the future? Will water deer ever become a suburban animal? What does the future hold for water deer in China and Korea - and how important is the English population as a global conservation resource?