Wildlife Ecology and Management

Summary: For nearly 20 years,Wildlife Ecology and Managementhas endured as a basic text in its field and, because of its continuing acceptance, we pleased to present the fifth edition. Despite the intervening years, however, our goal remains unchanged. Namely, we wish to introduce undergraduate students to wildlife management by presenting a broad overview across a spectrum of topics--wildlife diseases to public policy, exoti...c introductions to forest management, and predation to urban wildlife. These students, we hope, will include not only those completing degrees in disciplines associated with the conservation of natural resources--forestry, range and watershed management, outdoor recreation, as well as wildlife management--but also those "nonmajors" from other academic areas. Our presentation accordingly does not assume that students have acquired more than modest exposure to the biological sciences. The Glossary remains a major element in the fifth edition, as does a fundamental treatment of ecology in Chapter 4. WHAT'S NEW We sought new studies--especially those appearing in the most recent three to four years prior to press time--to revitalize concepts already presented in the book or to present entirely new areas of interest. Among the latter is the removal of dams, not only to restore fish runs, but also to restore, as much as possible, the biota and functions of entire watersheds to their former state. Similarly, this edition includes an overview of global warming in relation to wildlife management and highlights the occurrence of emerging diseases such as chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. We also describe adaptive harvest management--a performance-based strategy for regulating the influence of hunting on wildlife populations--and draw attention to the influence of animal rights groups as well as to the responsibilities of hunters. Continued broadening of the termwildlifealso is reflected in this edition, including expanded coverage of marine mammals and concerns for species such as bog turtles and monarch butterflies. In all, more than 390 new references are cited, of which 71 percent bear dates of 1999 to 2002. Still, older literature often remains the best source to establish a strong and necessary foundation for many subjects, and the implications and results reported in these earlier papers are no less true today than when they first appeared in the literature (e.g., DDT-induced eggshell thinning). Interests also shift through time, and some areas currently attract little, if any, attention. Invasive species have stimulated an avalanche of literature, for example, but wildlife economics and soil-animal ecology have not, and our attempt to update these and some other subjects has not always been fulfilled satisfactorily. New information boxes describe additional institutions dedicated to wildlife research and management, and another new box features an influential conservationist from yesteryear. As in the past, we complement these with profiles of colleagues who work "in the real world" where problems of funding, politics, and bureaucratic limitations pose daily challenges to their work. [read more]