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Wildlife behavior and ecology (er)
“What a wonderful idea for an adventure! Absolutely inspired, timely, and important.” —Alistair Humphreys, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and author of The Doorstep Mile and Around the World by Bike Outdoor educator and field researcher Sara Dykman made history when she became the first person to bicycle along­side monarch butterflies on their storied annual migration—a round-trip adventure that included three countries and more than 10,000 miles. Equally remarkable, she did it solo, on a bike cobbled together from used parts. Her panniers were recycled buckets. In Bicycling with Butterflies, Dykman recounts her incredible journey and the dramatic ups and downs of the nearly nine-month odyssey. We’re beside her as she nav­igates unmapped roads in foreign countries, checks roadside milkweed for monarch eggs, and shares her passion with eager schoolchil­dren, skeptical bar patrons, and unimpressed border officials. We also meet some of the ardent monarch stewards who supported her efforts, from citizen scientists and research­ers to farmers and high-rise city dwellers. With both humor and humility, Dykman offers a compelling story, confirming the urgency of saving the threatened monarch migration—and the other threatened systems of nature that affect the survival of us all.
Mountain sheep epitomize wilderness for many people because they occupy some of the most inaccessible and rugged habitats known to man, from desert crags to alpine mountains. But of all hoofed mammals in North America, wild sheep present the greatest management problems to biologists. This book is a major reference on the natural history, ecology, and management of wild sheep in North America. Written by wildlife biologists who have devoted years of study to the animals, it covers Dall's and Stone's sheep and Rocky Mountain, California, and desert bighorn and examines a variety of factors pertinent to their life histories: habitat, diet, activity, social organization, reproduction, and population dynamics. Additional chapters consider distribution and abundance, adaptive strategies, and management guidelines. Discussions on diseases of wild sheep present a wealth of information that will be of particular use to wildlife biologists, including detailed clinical descriptions of conditions that threaten sheep populations, from pasteurellosis to capture myopathy. An appendix reviews the cytogenetics and genetics of wild sheep. North American wild sheep may face extinction in many areas unless critical questions concerning their management are answered soon. Prior to the publication of this book, there was no single reference available in which one could find such a synthesis of information. Mountain Sheep of North America provides that source and points toward the preservation of these magnificent wild creatures.
The fascinating and complex evolutionary relationship of the monarch butterfly and the milkweed plant Monarch butterflies are one of nature's most recognizable creatures, known for their bright colors and epic annual migration from the United States and Canada to Mexico. Yet there is much more to the monarch than its distinctive presence and mythic journeying. In Monarchs and Milkweed, Anurag Agrawal presents a vivid investigation into how the monarch butterfly has evolved closely alongside the milkweed—a toxic plant named for the sticky white substance emitted when its leaves are damaged—and how this inextricable and intimate relationship has been like an arms race over the millennia, a battle of exploitation and defense between two fascinating species. The monarch life cycle begins each spring when it deposits eggs on milkweed leaves. But this dependency of monarchs on milkweeds as food is not reciprocated, and milkweeds do all they can to poison or thwart the young monarchs. Agrawal delves into major scientific discoveries, including his own pioneering research, and traces how plant poisons have not only shaped monarch-milkweed interactions but have also been culturally important for centuries. Agrawal presents current ideas regarding the recent decline in monarch populations, including habitat destruction, increased winter storms, and lack of milkweed—the last one a theory that the author rejects. He evaluates the current sustainability of monarchs and reveals a novel explanation for their plummeting numbers. Lavishly illustrated with more than eighty color photos and images, Monarchs and Milkweed takes readers on an unforgettable exploration of one of nature's most important and sophisticated evolutionary relationships.
Macy and Danny, two teenage boy who have both grown up under difficult circumstances, turn out very differently--one becomes a hero, the other a murderer.
A century ago, a little-known, exotic animal, the Himalayan tahr, was introduced into New Zealand for big-game sporting purposes. From a few releases at Aoraki Mt Cook, tahr are now permanent inhabitants of the sub-alpine zones in the central Southern Alps. Their ecology, lifestyle and unique behaviour, both here and in their homelands, remained largely undocumented. Until now. Ken Tustin was drawn to working with Himalayan tahr: As a hunter, scientist, helicopter pilot and recently as a documentary film-maker. His involvement with tahr spans 45 years. It began as a 19-year-old hunting tahr as scientific specimens for researcher Dr. Graeme Caughley. He then went on to study them himself as a scientist for the Forest Research Institute, covering many aspects of tahr population demography, census, ecology, range use and behaviour; the latter involving a direct observation study, living alone, mid-slope in the Godley Valley in a tiny hut/ hide for the best part of two years. Ken's life then changed. A helicopter pilot, based at Wanaka, his second career included work with tahr: Aerial control for the Department of Conservation and tourist hunting for trophies in the Southern Alps, intermingled with long trips overseas. But Ken's special interest in tahr behaviour, inspired early by Dr. George Schaller on a working visit to NZ, remained unfulfilled. Questions still nagged: Understanding tahr social organisation, dramatically and uniquely played out by this alpine animal. When medical misadventure halted his aviation career, Ken returned to his favourite animal, this time with notebook and camera. His interest went further afield in a trip to Nepal with Italian mountain-animal expert Prof. Sandro Lovari, before returning to resume, in a different way, his self-funded odyssey back in the NZ mountains. The result of all these adventures is this book. It is the intimate story of Ken Tustin's growing respect for a remarkable animal, seen over a lifetime, through the eyes of a hunter, researcher, pilot and behaviour-study film-maker. One man's quietly increasing affection for an extraordinary wild animal: The Himalayan tahr.
"Bonnie Kelley-Young's narrative voice is well suited to the subject matter and its audience....The sound effects enhance the story and add to the sense of wonder." -AudioFile