This scientific monograph gives a detailed information about reproduction biology in the grey wolf Canis lupus in Belarus. This topic includes the wolf breeding (mating and denning) behavior, fertility of the species and mortality of its pups. The initial material was not collected occasionally from wolf hunters and wolf pup searchers, but mainly gained by authors first-hand according to a well-set research design and long-term. By analyzing the gathered data, we became convinced that in the wolf reproduction biology there are more exceptions than rules. Therefore, the standard patterns of reproduction biology in wolves that are wide-spread in the published literature about the species we call as common beliefs that are given versus the wolf reality that we have found in Belarus. Concerning the non-standard features in the wolf reproduction biology, we revealed that multiple breeding in wolf pack is a common phenomenon, breeding of yearling females and wolf-dog hybridization were found to be irrespective the food base and strongly depending on the species population density i.e. they are reproduction regulations. Wolf pup mortality was investigated and the crucial role of deliberate predation of lynxes on wolf pups was revealed.

This scientific book gives the results of the long-term studies on the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in Belarus, mainly in Naliboki Forest and Paazierre Forest. Population structure, breeding, diet and prey supply as well as the variety of behavioural traits were considered. Among behavioural questions there were investigated sociality, hunting modes, mating and denning behaviour, territorial marking, sheltering and interspecific interference. The monograph presents not only the regional aspects of lynx biology, but also includes many new findings for the Eurasian lynx overall.

FINALIST IN THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2022/2023 – WRITTEN BY THE WAINWRIGHT-CONSERVATION-PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF REBIRDING. Transform your understanding of the natural world forever and discover the wild forces that once supported Britain's extraordinary natural riches, and could again. Our precious archipelago is ravaged by climate change, bereft of natural ecosystems and lies at the mercy of global warming, flooding, drought and catastrophic biodiversity loss. But could restoring species that once helped protect our islands help turn this crisis around? From familiar yet imperilled honeybees and ancient oak woods to returning natives like beavers and boars, Britain's cornerstone species may hold the key to recovering our biodiversity on land and in our seas. In Cornerstones, we discover how beavers craft wetlands, save fish, encourage otters, and prevent rivers from flooding. We learn how 'disruptive' boars are seasoned butterfly conservationists, why whales are crucial for restoring seabird cities and how wolves and lynx could save our trees, help sequester carbon and protect our most threatened birds. Benedict Macdonald transforms our understanding of the natural world forever, revealing lives that once supported extraordinary natural riches and explaining how humans – the most important cornerstone species of all – can become the greatest stewards of the natural world.

Predation, one of the most dramatic interactions in animals' lives, has long fascinated ecologists. This volume presents carnivores, raptors and their prey in the complicated net of interrelationships, and shows them against the background of their biotic and abiotic settings. It is based on long-term research conducted in the best preserved woodland of Europe's temperate zone. The role of predation, whether limiting or regulating prey (ungulate, rodent, shrew, bird, and amphibian) populations, is quantified and compared to parts played by other factors: climate, food resources for prey, and availability of other potential resources for predators.

This monograph is about predation in vertebrate animal community. The studies were done in the seminatural terrains with transitional mixed forest within the European forest zone in Belarus. The result part was organised as a top-down flow: First, the community characteristics related to predators were estimated. I presented data on predator species richness, population density and biomass with special attention paid to the changes in predator species diversity occurred during the last two centuries and particularly in connection with the American mink and raccoon dog naturalization. Then, the main features of predator food niches were given, and the structure of various predator guilds and size structure in predators were analysed. The next part of the monograph was devoted to examining of community-important factors acting in semi-natural terrains. Such factors affected either the whole community or its marked fragment. The last quite a large part of the monograph consisted of many chapters which present more or less essential results on different predator species, and stresses hot questions of their population ecology.

Sponsored by many international agencies.

Landscape ecology is an integrative and multi-disciplinary science and Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology reconciles the geological, botanical, zoological and human perspectives. In particular ,new paradigms and theories such as percolation, metapopulation, hierarchies, source-sink models have been integrated in this last edition with the recent theories on bio-complexity, information and cognitive sciences. Methods for studying landscape ecology are covered including spatial geometry models and remote sensing in order to create confidence toward techniques and approaches that require a high experience and long-time dedication. Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology is a textbook useful to present the landscape in a multi-vision perspective for undergraduate and graduate students of biology, ecology, geography, forestry, agronomy, landscape architecture and planning. Sociology, economics, history, archaeology, anthropology, ecological psychology are some sciences that can benefit of the holistic vision offered by this texbook.

The action plan for the conservation of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe was prepared for the Large Carnivore Initiative in Europe, a voluntary organisation supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The plan was discussed and endorsed in the framework of the Council of Europe's Wildlife Convention (Bern Convention). It contains valuable information on the status of the species and useful recommendations and guidelines for its conservation and management

The fundamental concept of The Biology and Identification of the Coccidia (Apicomplexa) of Carnivores of the World is to provide an up-to-date reference guide to the identification, taxonomy, and known biology of apicomplexan intestinal and tissue parasites of carnivores including, but not limited to, geographic distribution, prevalence, sporulation, prepatent and patent periods, site(s) of infection in the definitive and (if known) intermediate hosts, endogenous development, cross-transmission, pathology, phylogeny, and (if known) their treatments. These data will allow easy parasite recognition with a summation of virtually everything now known about the biology of each parasite species covered. The last (very modest) and only treatise published on this subject was in 1981 so this book fills a fundamental gap in our knowledge of what is now known, and what is not, about the coccidian parasites that infect and sometimes kill carnivores and/or their prey that can harbor intermediate stages, including many domestic and game animals. - Offers line drawings and photomicrographs of many parasite species that will allow easy diagnosis and identification by both laypersons and professionals (veterinarians, wildlife biologists, etc.) - Presents a complete historical rendition of all known publications on carnivore coccidia for all carnivore families and evaluates the scientific and scholarly merit of each apicomplexan species relative to the current body of knowledge - Provides a complete species analysis and their known biology of all coccidia described from each carnivore lineage and species - Reviews the most current taxonomy of carnivores and their phylogenetic relationships to help assess host-specificity patterns that may be apparent - Evaluates what little cross-transmission work is available to help understand the complexities of those coccidians that use two hosts (e.g., Sarcocystis, Besnoitia, and others) - Provides known treatments for the various parasite genera/species