Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa


Book Description

Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region. Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography. Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.




Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation


Book Description

Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation reports on the science and conservation of the cheetah. This volume demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of research and conservation efforts to study and protect the cheetah. The book begins with chapters on the evolution, genetics, physiology, ecology and behavior of the species, as well as distribution reports from range countries. These introductory chapters lead into discussions of the challenges facing cheetah survival, including habitat loss, declining prey base, human-wildlife conflict, illegal trade, and newly-emerging threats, notably climate change. This book also focuses on conservation strategies and solutions, including environmental education and alternative livelihoods. Chapters on the role of captive cheetahs to conservation and the long-term research of the species are included, as are a brief discussion of the methods and analyses used to study the cheetah. The book concludes with the conservation status and future outlook of the species. Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation is a valuable resource for the regional and global communities of cheetah conservationists, researchers, and academics. Although cheetah focussed the book provides information relevant to the study of broader topics such as wildlife conservation, captive breeding, habitat management, conservation biology and animal behaviour. Cover photograph by Angela Scott - Includes chapters by the world's leading cheetah researchers and practitioners, who have focused their efforts on this high-profile species of conservation concern - Provides findings as a combination of scientific detail and basic explanations so that they can be available not only to cheetah researchers and conservationists, but also to policy makers, business leaders, zoo managers, academics, students, and people interested in the cheetah and its future - Presents the current knowledge of the species, helping lay the foundations and best practices for cheetah conservation and research worldwide - Additional protocols and forms (which were provided by authors) can be found at the Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation companion site: https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals/book-companion/9780128040881




What Works in Conservation 2019


Book Description

What Works in Conservation has been created to provide practitioners with answers to these and many other questions about practical conservation. This book provides an assessment of the effectiveness of 1389 conservation interventions based on summarized scientific evidence. The 2019 edition contains new material on bat conservation. Other chapters cover practical global conservation of primates, peatlands, shrublands and heathlands, management of captive animals as well as an extended chapter on control of freshwater invasive species, the global conservation of amphibians, bats, birds and forests, conservation of European farmland biodiversity and some aspects of enhancing natural pest control, enhancing soil fertility and control of freshwater invasive species. It contains key results from the summarized evidence for each conservation intervention and an assessment of the effectiveness of each by international expert panels. The accompanying website www.conservationevidence.com describes each of the studies individually, and provides full references.This is the fourth edition of What Works in Conservation, which is revised on an annual basis. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.




Transforming REDD+


Book Description

Constructive critique. This book provides a critical, evidence-based analysis of REDD+ implementation so far, without losing sight of the urgent need to reduce forest-based emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change. REDD+ as envisioned




What Works in Conservation 2021


Book Description

Does the creation of artificial reefs benefit subtidal benthic invertebrates? Is the use of organic farming instead of conventional farming beneficial to bat conservation? Does installing wildlife warning reflectors along roads benefit mammal conservation? Does the installation of exclusion and/or escape devices on fishing nets benefit marine and freshwater mammal conservation? What Works in Conservation has been created to provide practitioners with answers to these and many other questions about practical conservation. This book provides an assessment of the effectiveness of 2526 conservation interventions based on summarized scientific evidence. The 2021 edition containssubstantial new material on bat conservation, terrestrial mammal conservation and marine and freshwater mammals, thus completing the evidence for all mammal species categories. Other chapters cover practical global conservation of primates, amphibians, bats, birds, forests, peatlands, subtidal benthic invertebrates, shrublands and heathlands, as well as the conservation of European farmland biodiversity and some aspects of enhancing natural pest control, enhancing soil fertility, management of captive animals and control of freshwater invasive species. It contains key results from the summarized evidence for each conservation intervention and an assessment of the effectiveness of each by international expert panels. The accompanying website www.conservationevidence.com describes each of the studies individually, and provides full references. This is the sixth author-approved edition of What Works in Conservation, which is revised on an annual basis.




Conflicts in Conservation


Book Description

An insightful guide to understanding conflicts over the conservation of biodiversity and groundbreaking strategies to deal with them.




Amphibian Conservation


Book Description

Amphibian Conservation is the fourth in the series of Synopses of Conservation Evidence, linked to the online resource www.ConservationEvidence.com. This synopsis is part of the Conservation Evidence project and provides a useful resource for conservationists. It forms part of a series designed to promote a more evidence-based approach to biodiversity conservation. Others in the series include bee, bird, farmland and bat conservation and many others are in preparation. Approximately 32% of the 7,164+ amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction and at least 43% of species are declining. Despite this, until recently amphibians and their conservation had received little attention. Although work is now being carried out to conserve many species, often it is not adequately documented. This book brings together and summarises the available scientific evidence and experience relevant to the practical conservation of amphibians. The authors consulted an international group of amphibian experts and conservationists to produce a thorough summary of what is known, or not known, about the effectiveness of amphibian conservation actions across the world. "The book is packed with literature summaries and citations; a veritable information goldmine for graduate students and researchers. It also admirably provides decision makers with a well-researched resource of proven interventions that can be employed to stem/reverse the decline of amphibian populations." -John G Palis, Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society




The New Wild


Book Description

Named one of the best books of 2015 by The Economist A provocative exploration of the “new ecology” and why most of what we think we know about alien species is wrong For a long time, veteran environmental journalist Fred Pearce thought in stark terms about invasive species: they were the evil interlopers spoiling pristine “natural” ecosystems. Most conservationists and environmentalists share this view. But what if the traditional view of ecology is wrong—what if true environmentalists should be applauding the invaders? In The New Wild, Pearce goes on a journey across six continents to rediscover what conservation in the twenty-first century should be about. Pearce explores ecosystems from remote Pacific islands to the United Kingdom, from San Francisco Bay to the Great Lakes, as he digs into questionable estimates of the cost of invader species and reveals the outdated intellectual sources of our ideas about the balance of nature. Pearce acknowledges that there are horror stories about alien species disrupting ecosystems, but most of the time, the tens of thousands of introduced species usually swiftly die out or settle down and become model eco-citizens. The case for keeping out alien species, he finds, looks increasingly flawed. As Pearce argues, mainstream environmentalists are right that we need a rewilding of the earth, but they are wrong if they imagine that we can achieve that by reengineering ecosystems. Humans have changed the planet too much, and nature never goes backward. But a growing group of scientists is taking a fresh look at how species interact in the wild. According to these new ecologists, we should applaud the dynamism of alien species and the novel ecosystems they create. In an era of climate change and widespread ecological damage, it is absolutely crucial that we find ways to help nature regenerate. Embracing the new ecology, Pearce shows us, is our best chance. To be an environmentalist in the twenty-first century means celebrating nature’s wildness and capacity for change.




Marine Conservation Biology


Book Description

'Marine Conservation Biology' brings together leading experts from around the world to apply the lessons and thinking of conservation biology to marine issues. The contributors cover what is threatening marine biodiversity and what humans can do to recover the biological integrity of the world's oceans.