Books
Some books reviewed in our book review section are available through Amazon.com. To make your purchase easier we have included a link when available. When you purchase a book through this service on our website Conservation In Practice receives a portion of the purchase price.
Who Owns the Sky
By Peter Barnes
Island Press, […] Read More »
Although it is well known that three-toed woodpeckers depend on the dead trees characteristic of old-growth forest, new research shows that not just any snags will do: the woodpeckers only forage on those that are dying or have died recently. This means that current management plans based on providing snags for nesting may be inadequate. […] Read More »
Snowmobile lovers say the noisy machines don’t harm wildlife, but conservationists fear they do. However, there has been little solid evidence for either side. Now, new research shows that snowmobiles can raise the stress hormones of animals in national parks.
“Elk and wolves show physiological stress responses to snowmobiles and that the response is stronger […] Read More »
While it stands to reason that rock climbers might harm habitats such as the ancient, stunted forests that grow on cliffs around the world, there has been little unambiguous evidence that this is so. Now, the first study to isolate rock climbing from other factors confirms that the sport damages cliff ecosystems.
“Our work shows […] Read More »
Every spring, the streets of Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean are littered with petrel fledglings that have gone astray. The problem is that the birds are nocturnal and are attracted to light, which is a deadly combination on Réunion because artificial lights have skyrocketed with the island’s development.
“Fledglings are attracted by lights during […] Read More »
A popular way to manage endangered Pacific salmon may do more harm than good. Many salmon recovery plans supplement wild populations with hatchery-raised fish. But new research shows that hatchery salmon can readily adapt to captivity and transfer these traits to wild populations.
“As the population adapts to the hatchery, its survival rate in the […] Read More »
Although European agriculture is reeling from mad cow and hoof-and-mouth disease, the crisis could benefit conservation. The push for major agricultural reforms may be the best hope for restoring habitats in Western Europe, much of which has been almost completely developed.
“Visitors to the UK are often astonished by the paucity of anything resembling natural […] Read More »
Biocontrol advocates claim that releasing nonnative insects to control nonnative plants is safe for native species — but the number of “exceptions” keeps growing. The latest is a weevil intended to control a nonnative thistle. New research shows that the weevil prefers a native thistle and can reduce its seed set by 98 percent.
“Ecological […] Read More »
By Jason Van Driesche
Summer 2002 (Vol. 3, No. 3)
The Maui Invasive Species Control Team is in high gear today. A local resident phoned in a report earlier this week of a miconia sighting upslope from his house, and it turned out to be quite a large infestation. It took the crew all […] Read More »
By Scott Norris with Ning Labbish Chao
Summer 2002 (Vol. 3, No. 3)
Jose Bento de Araújo guides his canoe forward through the dark, slow-moving water of a remote rainforest stream in the Rio Negro floodplain. He stops when a flash of metallic blue signals the presence of his quarry: a school of cardinal […] Read More »
By Michael Moore and Mark Erdmann
Summer 2002 (Vol. 3, No. 3)
Karang Palsu, or fake coral, was the best term we could find when trying to describe a new artificial reef system to local community members in Bunaken National Park, Indonesia. We were asking their permission to conduct a 3-year pilot project to […] Read More »
By Chuck Striplen and Sarah DeWeerdt
Summer 2002 (Vol. 3, No. 3)
Thomas Albert, a biologist and former large animal veterinarian, came to Alaska in 1981 to help develop a census program for the Beaufort-Chukchi-Bering Seas’ (BCB) stock of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus). At the time, detailed ecological information on this species was hard […] Read More »
By Reed Noss
Summer 2002 (Vol. 3, No. 3)
I leaned against my dusty 1974 Opel in the parking lot of Sugar-creek Nature Reserve in southwestern Ohio, reviewing the day’s count. The 10 most common bird species — common grackle, northern cardinal, carolina chickadee, red-winged blackbird, American goldfinch, blue-gray gnatcatcher, European starling, indigo bunting, […] Read More »
