LIBRARY LETTERS

© 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd. http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/geb

Global Ecology & Biogeography

(2002)

11

, 525–526

Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UKGEBGlobal Ecology and Biogeography1466-822XBlackwell Science, 2002November 2002116Original ArticleLibrary LettersLibrary Letters

A MUST-HAVE FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN BIRDS

Bennett, P.M. & Owens, I.P.F. (2002)

Evolutionary ecology ofbirds: life histories, mating systems and extinction

. OxfordUniversity Press, Oxford, UK. xiii + 278 pp, figs, tables, linedrawings, index. Paperback: Price £24.95. ISBN 0-19-851089-6.

When it was published in 1968, David Lack’s seminal book

Ecological adaptations for breeding in birds

was years aheadof its time in explaining why life-history traits and matingsystems vary so much across bird species. Nonetheless the inter-vening years have seen a number of important advances bothin the study of evolution and ecology and in the quantity andquality of available data. In particular, Lack did not haveaccess to modern comparative methods, which are able toexamine ecological relationships after accounting for thepossible confounding effects of phylogeny. Indeed, Lack did notuse statistics to test formally any of his conclusions. HenceBennett and Owens’ book is a very timely reappraisal of thequestions posed in Lack’s work. What’s more, it’s a highlysuccessful one. The book is an absolute must for anyone witha particular interest in birds, and many of the evolutionaryand ecological ideas presented are equally applicable to otheranimal groups: so much so that if you’re only planning onbuying one book this year on evolution or ecology, thisshould be it. However it should be stressed that the book isnot a review and the authors have not attempted a critical orexhaustive treatment of previous work in this field: indeedsome of their citations are notably uncritical. Instead, thework is a research monograph in which the authors describetheir own investigations.

The book is divided into four sections, the first of whichdiscusses general problems of comparative analysis andprovides a very useful and compelling introduction to moderncomparative methods that seek evolutionarily independentorigins of life-history traits. This section also provides asuccinct summary of avian diversification and phylogeny. Thenext two sections reflect the book’s provenance in examiningcompeting hypotheses on how natural selection has resultedin life-history variation, and exploring how both natural andsexual selection have produced the observed diversity in avianmating systems. The fourth section is the most novel in termsof the questions asked, which reflect the rising interest inbiodiversity and conservation by examining the ecologicalmechanisms that underlie variation in species richness and riskof extinction. In sections two, three and four, the authorspresent a wealth of original, rigorous and intriguing analysis,

some of which confirms the early insights of Lack’s work,but much of which leads to different conclusions and newinsights, many of them unexpected or counterintuitive. Likeall the best studies, the work also raises a number of furtherissues, and a separate chapter at the end of each section dealstantalizingly briefly with some of the more intriguing onesand indicates where more data are needed.

The book is very well written and the layout is excellent,with useful subheadings throughout and a succinct summaryat the end of each chapter. The work is illustrated by numerousfigures, tables and line drawings. In addition, there are fourseparate appendices giving very detailed and valuable infor-mation on key variables in different avian families. There arealso separate author, family name and subject indexes thatprovide multiple points of entry into the text.

My one slight quibble with the book is that, whilst theauthors have been careful to distinguish between the problemof explaining life-history variation and the problem of explain-ing population regulation, they have been less careful in dis-tinguishing between life-histories (comprising sets of evolvedtraits) and life-table variables (such as hatching and fledgingsuccess) that indicate how life-history traits interact with theenvironment. This could cause some confusion, although itdoes not affect the authors’ overall conclusions and does notdetract from the immense value of this work. At the end ofthe text, the authors issue a challenge to biologists workingon other taxa to produce similar analyses to those in thisbook. It is only to be hoped that such analysis is forthcomingin the not-too-distant future.

Keith Hamer

School of Biology, University of LeedsU.K.

November 2002116Original ArticleLibrary LettersLibrary Letters

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN THE USA

Conover, M. (2002)

Resolving human-wildlife conflicts: thescience of wildlife damage management

. Lewis Publishers —CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. xx + 418 pp, figs,tables, line diagrams, halftones, index. Hardback: Price£46.99. ISBN 1-56670-538-X.

Traditionally the domain of wildlife biology and manage-ment, human-wildlife conflict is of interest and concernacross a number of disciplines including conservation andwildlife biology, anthropology, and development. Conse-quently there is a diverse literature developing around variousaspects of this subject, and the timely arrival of this volume

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526

Library Letters

© 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd,

Global Ecology & Biogeography

,

11

, 525–526

by Conover provides a useful summary of much of the avail-able literature, especially that pertaining to the US.

This book comprises a series of chapters that cover funda-mental issues, rather than presenting a catalogue of differentpotential pest species and how to deal with them. The bookopens with chapters looking at definitions of (and conse-quently expectations of) wildlife management programmes,the history of wildlife management in the US, threats topeople’s health and safety from wildlife, economic considerationsin human-wildlife conflict management and environmentalimpacts. Having introduced these important aspects, theauthor provides comprehensive summaries of informationon different conflict-resolution strategies, including reductionof wildlife populations by lethal and nonlethal means, andmethods of changing problem animal behaviour. This couldmake for rather tedious reading but the author, very carefully,presents this applied information in the context of the theor-etical framework of animal behaviour and populationdynamics. Not only does this make for more interesting read-ing, but it also is a reminder that to develop effective conflictresolution strategies it is necessary, not only to understandhow animals’ behaviour and biology contribute to a conflictsituation, but also to be aware of the potential implications ofany interventions for animals as individuals, as well as at thepopulation level.

Human-wildlife conflict resolution strategies do not alwaysfocus specifically on the animals, but rather may concentrateon ways of changing the degree to which the contested resourceis vulnerable to animals, or changing people’s perceptions of,and thus expectations of, wildlife. Conover gives a usefulsummary of these additional approaches, highlighting theimportance of recognizing that different stakeholders may holdvery different views on particular issues, which need to betaken into account when trying to achieve resolution of aconflict situation. In the final chapter the author presents threecase studies. These are used to illustrate the complex natureof human-wildlife conflict issues. They demonstrate the

need for careful analysis of the situation prior to any interven-tion, and provide support for the idea that no single methodis likely to work, particularly over a prolonged period oftime; rather it is more effective to integrate a series ofdifferent methods that between them act to alleviate theproblem.

This book has great strengths. It provides an extensivereview of the available literature across many differentaspects of human-wildlife conflict. The inclusion of beha-vioural ecology, biology, economics and a focus on the needto take into account stakeholders’ perceptions, attitudes andconcerns, helps emphasize the value of examining human-wildlife conflict issues within a multidisciplinary framework.This provides a useful structure for considering human-wildlife conflict issues more generally, so potentially wideningthe scope of the book to areas outside of the US.

This book is certainly of value to those interested inhuman-wildlife conflict issues within the temperate, devel-oped regions of the world. However, it is of more limitedvalue to those concerned with such issues outside of thesegeographical and cultural regions. Economic, climatic andlogistical problems in particular make it very difficult forsubsistence farmers in the tropics to protect crops adequatelyagainst large, dangerous animals such as elephants, whilstterrestrial primates’ remarkable agility, dexterity and excep-tional cognitive abilities make these perhaps some of the mostdifficult animals of all to deal with effectively. Certainly thegeneral concept of using a variety of techniques against suchanimals is highly appropriate. However, because of economic,ecological, cultural, and faunal differences between temperateand tropical regions, many of the practical methods describedin this book are likely to be inappropriate or ineffectivesolutions to some of the human-wildlife conflicts experiencedby subsistence farmers in Africa and Asia.

Catherine M. Hill

Department of Anthropology, Oxford Brookes UniversityU.K.

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