Download or read book Vegetation Quality and Habitat Selection by European Hares Lepus Europaeus in a Pastural Landscape written by Rebecca K. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Lagomorphs written by Andrew T. Smith and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive guide to all lagomorphs—pikas, rabbits, and hares. Numbering 92 species worldwide, members of the order Lagomorpha are familiar to people throughout the world, and yet their remarkable diversity and ecological importance are often underappreciated. In this book, Andrew T. Smith and his colleagues bring together the world’s lagomorph experts to produce the most comprehensive reference on the order ever published, featuring detailed species accounts, stunning color photos, and up-to-date range maps. Contributors highlight the key ecological roles that lagomorphs play and explain in depth how scientists around the globe are working to save vulnerable populations. Thematic introductory chapters cover a broad spectrum of information about pikas, rabbits, and hares, from evolution and systematics to diseases and conservation. Each animal account begins with the complete scientific and common names for the species, followed by a detailed description of appearance and unique morphological characteristics, including a range of standard measurements of adult specimens. Subsequent sections discuss known paleontological data concerning the species, the current state of its taxonomy, and geographic variation. Each account also includes dedicated sectioins on habitat and diet, reproduction and development, ecology, behavior, and management. The definitive work on lagomorphs, this book is an invaluable reference for naturalists, professional biologists, and students. It will also be beneficial for those conducting biodiversity surveys and conservation throughout the world.
Download or read book Soil Quality and Biofuel Production written by Rattan Lal and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2009-12-17 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From its humble beginning in the late 19th century―when Henry Ford’s first car was designed to run on ethanol―biofuel production has been on the rise with more than 26 billion liters produced in the U.S. in 2007. Ethanol made from biomass (rather than grains) holds great promise, including numerous economic and environmental benefits. However, the adverse interactions of energy, climate, food, and soil quality cannot be ignored. In eight concise chapters, Soil Quality and Biofuel Production presents a state-of-the-knowledge review of soil properties and processes negatively impacted by crop residue removal. It outlines the ecological consequences of biofuels and evaluates land use in the production of raw material for biofuel. The book then spotlights pressing issues related to corn and cellulosic ethanol and also soil erosion. It offers advice for achieving economic balance in the competition for arable land between food and biofuel along with residue harvest management techniques. A thought-provoking discussion of the opportunities and challenges that biofuel presents rounds out the book’s coverage. The logistics of producing biomass in a sustainable manner remain a major challenge and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. Serious questions linger concerning viable sources of biofuel feedstock, competition for resources needed to produce biomass, and energy output/input ratios. Soil Quality and Biofuel Production provides environmental scientists and agricultural engineers with the knowledge they need to address them.
Download or read book The Landscape Ecology of Brown Hares and European Rabbits in Pastures in the North East of England written by Silviu Octavian Petrovan and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The declines of the brown hare (Lepus europaeus), a priority species for conservation in the UK, may have been caused by changes in agricultural management. This study aims to identify hare distribution, density, habitat selection and demography in grass lands in order to benefit their future conservation. In addition, this study aims to investigate the impact of current agricultural management on the populations of the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), a major agricultural pest and potential competitor for hares. Hare and rabbit populations were surveyed in several large, pasture-dominated, sites in north -east England between 2007 and 2009. Estimated density of brown hares in the studied region was far higher than the published national average density for this species in pastures but with very large variation between superficially similar sites. We explored a new method to survey hares using night-time line transect distance sampling and compared this method with day time surveys. Night-time distance sampling produced improved precision estimates of hares with considerably less survey effort by maximising detectability during surveys. Hares and rabbits had different habitat requirements in grassland areas and areas dominated by intensive sheep grazing produced the lowest hare densities and in most cases were associated with high rabbit densities. Field size was an important determinant of the distribution of both hares and rabbits but with contrasting effects for the two species. Predator control appeared more important in increasing rabbit numbers than hares in the studied region. Our results indicate that recent changes in pasture management in the UK might favour high rabbit densities with potentially significant economic impacts for the agricultural sector. Hare productivity was high but female fertility and survival, in particular juvenile survival, were relatively low. Hares in the studied region were generally in good condition and reached sizes comparable with hares from arable areas. Population modelling suggested the hare population in the area was slowly increasing but was susceptible to decline even at relatively moderate levels of hunting. Radio-tracking indicated that habitat heterogeneity was important for hares at both between and within field levels. Hares preferentially used field margins during both active and inactive periods and selected woodland edges and unimproved grassland during diurnal periods, suggesting that they might benefit from measures designed to increase heterogeneity and re-establishment of non-farmed habitat features, particularly field margins. Equally, hares avoided sheep grazed fields with short swards for both foraging and resting indicating that reducing grazing intensity in pastural areas would also be beneficial for hare conservation. We suggest that grassland management could be adapted in order to minimize damage by high numbers of rabbits and increase the presence and abundance of the brown hare, a species of conservation concern in Europe and the UK.
Download or read book Rabbits Hares and Pikas written by Joseph A. Chapman and published by IUCN. This book was released on 1990 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Action Plan provides an overview of the state of knowledge about all species of lagomorphs, provides a contemporary framework about their importance to humans and the world’s ecosystems, reviews their status on a worldwide scale, and makes recommendations for conservation action to prevent the extinction of any lagomorph species and to allow their populations to recover to safe and production levels.
Download or read book Development of a quantification method for European brown hares Lepus europaeus in urban areas on the example of Lichtenberg Berlin written by Regina Schulze and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2012-07-02 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master's Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Nature Protection, Landscape Conservation, grade: 1,3, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (Institut für Natur- und Ressourcenschutz Abteilung Landschaftsökologie), course: Environmental Management, Umweltmanagement, language: English, abstract: The stock of the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus PALLAS, 1778) is declining since decades, in Germany as well as in other European countries.At the same time,the occurrence of European brown hares is a new phenomenon in urban areas. Hence,Lichtenberg, a city district of Berlin, the capital of Germany, even assumed a special responsibility for its new inhabitants. Whereas a method for the quantification of this common game species in agricultural areas already exists, a new quantification method for city habitats is required in order to overcome several limitations. The aim of this master thesis is to deliver a suitable quantification method for Lepus europaeus, which can be applied by nature conservation authorities in future. By means of a strong LED torchlight and a bike, 153.74 ha of green area, which is usually scattered between residential buildings, were investigated in the style of the previous “spotlight taxation”. These investigated areas belong to five different tracks. Each track was investigated three times in the late evening hours in the spring period from 8th of March until the 25th of April 2011. Within this time 37 sightings of hares have been made. Summing up the five maximum values from each of the 3 countings, one could assume that at least 17 hares live within the illuminated area. Considering the territorial behaviour, even a minimum number of 19 hares is probable. If additionally only suitable tracks are taken into account, a density of 16.98 hares/100 ha can be calculated ‒ a surprisingly high value compared to the results of spotlight counting in surrounding federal states, where the agricultural landscape, and therefore the natural habitat of Lepus europaeus, is more prevalent. However, a direct comparison to the hare densities in the open landscape, which are obtained by means of different methods is incorrect. Nevertheless, if the proposed aspects for a future implementation will be taken into consideration in the long run, it is a realisable method for the quantification of urban hare populations. Moreover, the interested public can participate on this scientific approach as well. Then, cost reduction and the rising awareness for wild animals in the public are positive side-effects.
Download or read book The Atlas of European Mammals written by Anthony J. Mitchell-Jones and published by Helm. This book was released on 1999 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents maps of 194 species plotted on a 50km UTM grid and entirely based on field observations. Over 93,000 records are mapped with separate symbols for dat collected before or after 1970. Where appropriate, recent extinctions have been taken into account.
Download or read book Villages in the Steppe written by Peter M. M. G. Akkermans and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 1993 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study aims to shed some light on the nature of prehistoric human occupation in the Balikh valley of northern Syria. Human settlement in the Balikh valley has a long history, and due to its central geographic position the region was of great importance in terms of communication and cultural interaction in many periods.
Download or read book The Global Guide to Animal Protection written by Andrew Linzey and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2013-06-01 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Raising awareness of human indifference and cruelty toward animals, The Global Guide to Animal Protection includes more than 180 introductory articles that survey the extent of worldwide human exploitation of animals from a variety of perspectives. In addition to entries on often disturbing examples of human cruelty toward animals, the book provides inspiring accounts of attempts by courageous individuals--including Jane Goodall, Shirley McGreal, Birute Mary Galdikas, Richard D. Ryder, and Roger Fouts--to challenge and change exploitative practices. As concern for animals and their welfare grows, this volume will be an indispensable aid to general readers, activists, scholars, and students interested in developing a keener awareness of cruelty to animals and considering avenues for reform. Also included is a special foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, urging readers to seek justice and protection for all creatures, humans and animals alike.
Download or read book Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Lynx in Europe Lynx Lynx written by Urs Breitenmoser and published by Council of Europe. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Antipredator Defenses in Birds and Mammals written by Timothy M. Caro and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2005-09 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tim Caro explores the many & varied ways in which prey species have evolved defensive characteristics and behaviour to confuse, outperform or outwit their predators, from the camoflaged coat of the giraffe to the extraordinary way in which South American sealions ward off the attacks of killer whales.
Download or read book Climate Trend Atlas of Europe Based on Observations 1891 1990 written by Christian-D. Schönwiese and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1997-03-31 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate varies on all scales of time and space, bya large variety of reasons. However, before any discussion of reasons can be performed it is necessary to realize the very facts of climate variability by means of observations or reconstructions, respectively. In this book we focus on observed long-term trends of selected climate elements (tempera ture, precipitation, humidity, pressure ) as revealed by direct measurements of the Euro pean station network within the recent 100 years. Of course, there are a number of problems in detail: Reliability and accuracy of data, time series homogeneity, statistical confidence oftrends and so on. We hope that these problems are addressed in an instructive and, as far as possible, exhausting way. The main purpose of this work, however, was to provide a collection of trend charts which specify the regional particularities of observed climate trends in different months or seasons of the year leading us to an 'Atlas of observed climate trends in Europe'. Keeping in mind the recent World Meteorological Organization (WMO) climate nor mal (CLINO) period, we have also calculated the 1961-1990 trends.
Download or read book Utilization of Farmland Habitats by European Hares Lepus Europaeus Pallas in Southern Sweden written by Bo Frylestam and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Spatial Simulation written by David O'Sullivan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-08-05 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A ground-up approach to explaining dynamic spatial modelling for an interdisciplinary audience. Across broad areas of the environmental and social sciences, simulation models are an important way to study systems inaccessible to scientific experimental and observational methods, and also an essential complement to those more conventional approaches. The contemporary research literature is teeming with abstract simulation models whose presentation is mathematically demanding and requires a high level of knowledge of quantitative and computational methods and approaches. Furthermore, simulation models designed to represent specific systems and phenomena are often complicated, and, as a result, difficult to reconstruct from their descriptions in the literature. This book aims to provide a practical and accessible account of dynamic spatial modelling, while also equipping readers with a sound conceptual foundation in the subject, and a useful introduction to the wide-ranging literature. Spatial Simulation: Exploring Pattern and Process is organised around the idea that a small number of spatial processes underlie the wide variety of dynamic spatial models. Its central focus on three ‘building-blocks’ of dynamic spatial models – forces of attraction and segregation, individual mobile entities, and processes of spread – guides the reader to an understanding of the basis of many of the complicated models found in the research literature. The three building block models are presented in their simplest form and are progressively elaborated and related to real world process that can be represented using them. Introductory chapters cover essential background topics, particularly the relationships between pattern, process and spatiotemporal scale. Additional chapters consider how time and space can be represented in more complicated models, and methods for the analysis and evaluation of models. Finally, the three building block models are woven together in a more elaborate example to show how a complicated model can be assembled from relatively simple components. To aid understanding, more than 50 specific models described in the book are available online at patternandprocess.org for exploration in the freely available Netlogo platform. This book encourages readers to develop intuition for the abstract types of model that are likely to be appropriate for application in any specific context. Spatial Simulation: Exploring Pattern and Process will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in environmental, social, ecological and geographical disciplines. Researchers and professionals who require a non-specialist introduction will also find this book an invaluable guide to dynamic spatial simulation.
Download or read book Lagomorph Biology written by Paulo C. Alves and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-12-29 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to cover all aspects of Lagomorph biology. Lagomorphs are a mammalian order which includes rabbits, hares and pikas. They are distributed throughout the world and are of both scientific and public interest as they are classified between endangered and pest species. In addition, some have a high economic value as important game species. In the last few decades, a huge amount of information has been made available to the scientific community that has resulted in remarkable advances on all aspects of Lagomorph biology.
Download or read book Carnivore Ecology and Conservation written by Luigi Boitani and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-12 with total page 525 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides concise, yet authoritative descriptions of the most common techniques used to study wild carnivores and to conserve and manage their populations within increasingly human-dominated landscapes.
Download or read book The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals written by Carolyn King and published by CSIRO PUBLISHING. This book was released on 2021-01-20 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals is the only definitive reference on all the land-breeding mammals recorded in the New Zealand region (including the New Zealand sector of Antarctica). It lists 65 species, including native and exotic, wild and feral, living and extinct, residents, vagrants and failed introductions. It describes their history, biology and ecology, and brings together comprehensive and detailed information gathered from widely scattered or previously unpublished sources. The description of each species is arranged under standardised headings for easy reference. Because the only native land-breeding mammals in New Zealand are bats and seals, the great majority of the modern mammal fauna comprises introduced species, whose arrival has had profound effects both for themselves and for the native fauna and flora. The book details changes in numbers and distribution for the native species, and for the arrivals it summarises changes in habitat, diet, numbers and size in comparison with their ancestral stocks, and some of the problems they present to resource managers. For this third edition, the text and references have been completely updated and reorganised into Family chapters. The colour section includes 14 pages of artwork showing all the species described and their main variations, plus two pages of maps.
