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2013 Southeastern Naturalist Vol. 12, No. 4
Forest Ecosystems, Second Edition. David A.
Perry, Ram Oren, and Stephen C. Hart. 2013. Johns
Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 632 pp.
$90.00, hardcover. ISBN 9780801888403. This
acclaimed textbook is the most comprehensive
available in the field of forest ecology. Designed
for advanced students of forest science, ecology,
and environmental studies, it is also an essential
reference for forest ecologists, foresters, and land
managers. The authors provide an inclusive survey
of boreal, temperate, and tropical forests with an
emphasis on ecological concepts across scales that
range from global to landscape to microscopic.
Situating forests in the context of larger landscapes,
they reveal the complex patterns and processes
observed in tree-dominated habitats.
Venomous Reptiles of the United States, Canada,
and Northern Mexico, Volume 1. Carl H. Ernst and
Evelyn M. Ernst. 2011. Johns Hopkins University
Press, Baltimore, MD. 392 pp. $75.00, hardcover.
ISBN 9780801898754. Carl and Evelyn Ernst
have completely revised their landmark reference
Venomous Reptiles of North America to present the
most comprehensive review of these animals in
years. Volume One of this definitive work presents
dramatically improved species accounts of the venomous
lizards and elapid and viperid snakes found
north of Mexico’s twenty-fifth parallel. Volume 2
will cover the twenty-one rattlesnakes found in
the United States, Canada, and, for the first time,
species found only in northern Mexico. Ernst and
Ernst have painstakingly researched and verified
the highly valuable and detailed information in
this volume, including every detail of the lives of
these fascinating and sometimes deadly animals.
Venomous Reptiles of the United States, Canada,
and Northern Mexico provides facts on each animal’s
diet, reproductive behavior, physiology, ecology,
and conservation status. The book also covers details
on snakebite, how venom is delivered, venom
composition, antivenom production, and medical
treatments of envenomation. Each species account
includes vivid photographs that aid with identification
and detailed maps that show the species range.
Venomous Reptiles of the United States, Canada,
and Northern Mexico represents the latest research
on these animals and includes the most extensive
bibliography of literature on the subject. Anyone
with an interest in venom, snakes, or herpetology
in general will find a wealth of information within
the pages of these impressive volumes.
Biogeography and Biodiversity of Western Atlantic
Mollusks. Edward J. Petuch. 2013. CRC Press,
Boca Raton, FL. 252 pp. $159.95, hardcover. ISBN
9781466579798. Shallow water marine molluscan
faunas are distributed in a pattern of distinct, geographically
definable areas. This makes mollusks
ideal for studying the distribution of organisms
in the marine environment and the processes and
patterns that control their evolution. Biogeography
and Biodiversity of Western Atlantic Mollusks is the
first book to use quantitative methodologies to define
marine molluscan biogeographical patterns. It
traces the historical development of these patterns
for the subtropical and tropical western Atlantic. The
book discusses the multistage process of evolving
new taxa caused by eustatic fluctuations, ecological
stress, and evolutionary selection. Drawing on his
decades of intensive field work, the author defines
three western Atlantic molluscan provinces and 15
subprovinces based on his Provincial Combined
Index, a modern refinement of Valentine’s 50%
rule. The faunal provinces—Carolinian, Caribbean,
and Brazilian—are discussed in detail. The
text defines the physical aspects of the provinces
using quantitative data, with water temperature
as the primary parameter. It discusses the details
of the 15 subprovinces—geographically definable
faunal subdivisions—as well as provinciatones,
transition zones of provincial overlap. The author’s
algorithms demonstrate that the bulk of the molluscan
biodiversity is concentrated in 40 separate
centers of speciation, ranging from Cape Hatteras,
North Carolina, south to Argentina. Many of these
evolutionary hotspots reside on remote archipelagos
and offshore banks as well as within areas of provincial
overlap. The text describes some of the more
exotic and poorly known areas and presents maps
and color photographs of characteristic habitats,
index species, and live animals, including over 400
species of rare and seldom seen shells.
Biology and Management of Inland Striped Bass
and Hybrid Striped Bass. James S. Bulak, Charles C.
Coutant, and James A. Rice (Eds.). 2013. American
Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD. 588 pp. $79.00,
hardcover. ISBN 9781934874363. The book provides
a first-ever, comprehensive overview of the biology
and management of striped bass and hybrid striped
bass in the inland waters of the United States. The
book’s 34 chapters are divided into nine major
sections: History, Habitat, Growth and Condition,
Population and Harvest Evaluation, Stocking
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2013 Southeastern Naturalist Vol. 12, No. 4
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Evaluations, Natural Reproduction, Harvest Regulations,
Conflicts, and Economics. A concluding
chapter discusses challenges and opportunities
currently facing these fisheries. This compendium
will serve as a single-source reference for those who
manage or are interested in inland striped bass or
hybrid striped bass fisheries. Fishery managers and
students will benefit from this up-to-date overview
of priority topics and techniques. Serious anglers
will benefit from the extensive information on the
biology and behavior of these popular sport fishes.
Letters from Alabama: Chiefly Relating to
Natural History. Philip Henry Gosse. 2012.
University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, AL. 312
pp. $34.95, hardcover. ISBN 9780817317898. This
new and improved edition of Letters from Alabama
offers a valuable window into pioneer Alabama
and the landscape and life-forms encountered
by early settlers of the state. Philip Henry Gosse
(1810–1888), a British naturalist, left home at age
seventeen and made his way to Alabama in 1838.
He was employed by Judge Reuben Saffold and
other planters near Pleasant Hill in Dallas County
as a teacher for about a dozen of their children, but
his principal interest was natural history. Letters
from Alabama is a personalized record of Gosse’s
perceptive observations during his eight-month
residence in this small antebellum community. The
work addresses a Victorian readership, including
entomologists, who Gosse believed were relatively
uninformed about the novelty and beauty of this
“hilly region of the State of Alabama”. Written in
an engaging literary style and organized as a series
of epistolary discussions, the book is unparalleled
in its detailed evocations of the natural history
and cultural conditions of frontier Alabama. By
the time Letters from Alabama appeared in 1859,
Gosse’s scientific publications and fine illustrations
had led to his being elected a Fellow of the Royal
Society of London. Edited by Gary R. Mullen
and Taylor D. Littleton, this authoritative edition
features thirty grayscale lithographs shot directly
from the 1859 edition, reset type for easier reading,
a new introduction and index by the two foremost
scholars of Gosse in Alabama, a new appendix that
provides modern scientific and common names for
the plant and animal species described by Gosse,
and a four-color cover featuring one of the plates
from Gosse’s Entomologia Alabamensis.
Hummingbirds of Texas. Clifford E. Shackelford,
Madge M. Lindsay, and Mark C. Klym. 2009.
Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX.
112 pp. $19.95, softcover. ISBN 9781603441100.
Written for a general audience, with spectacular
images for birders and nature enthusiasts at every
level, Hummingbirds of Texas reveals the enormous
appeal of this tiniest and shiniest of birds. The book
opens with a look at the many manifestations of the
human attraction to these flying jewels. The authors
then showcase the nineteen different hummingbird
species that have appeared in the region covered
by the book. Magnificent color photographs and
original artwork aid in identification and accompany
descriptions, range maps, and abundance graphs
for each species.
Birding the Southwestern National Parks. Roland
H. Wauer. 2004. Texas A&M University Press,
College Station, TX. 216 pp. $35.00, hardcover.
ISBN 9781585442867. At the end of the twentieth
century, roughly 265 million people visited the
374 sites in the American National Park System.
These places, designated and protected because
of their significance to our nation’s historical and
natural heritage, contain some of the most beautiful
landscapes in the United States—landscapes that
naturally lend themselves to outdoor recreation.
In this book, veteran parks interpreter Ro Wauer
introduces the pleasures of birding in the national
parks of the American Southwest. From California
to Texas, from hugely popular destinations such as
Arizona’s Grand Canyon to the mostly undiscovered
shores of Amistad National Recreation Area,
Wauer visits seventeen sites and gives us his advice
on what birds to expect to see and where and how
to find them. Written by a birder for birders, this
book introduces readers to some of the best birding
north of the Mexican border, as well as some
of the most impressive scenery anywhere. Wauer
takes readers on a personal tour, pointing out where
to go to see a vast array of each park’s bird life:
Le Conte’s Thrashers in Death Valley, Clark’s and
Western Grebes at Lake Mead, Phainopeplas at
Organ Pipe Cactus, Lucy’s Warblers at Saguaro,
Peregrine Falcons in Grand Canyon, Cave Swallows
at Carlsbad Caverns, Magnificent Hummingbirds
at Guadalupe Mountains, and Colima Warblers
in Big Bend. Birding the Southwestern National
Parks is written for anyone visiting, planning to
visit, or dreaming of visiting the southwestern
national parks.
Ecological Sustainability: Understanding
Complex Issues. Robert B. Northrop and Anne N.
Connor. 2013. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 548 pp.
$129.95, hardcover. ISBN 9781466565128. ComB9
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plex Systems is a new field of science studying how
parts of a system give rise to the collective behaviors
of the system, and how the system interacts with
its environment. This book examines the complex
systems involved in environmental sustainability,
and examines the technologies involved to help
mitigate human impacts, such as renewable energy,
desalination, carbon capture, recycling, etc.
It considers the relationships and balance between
environmental engineering and science, economics,
and human activity, with regard to sustainability.
Fossil Behavior Compendium. Arthur J. Boucot
and George O. Poinar, Jr. 2010. CRC Press,
Boca Raton, FL. 424 pp. $134.36, hardcover.
ISBN 9781439810583. In this complete and
thorough update of Arthur Boucot’s seminal
work, Evolutionary Paleobiology of Behavior
and Coevolution, Boucot is joined by George
Poinar, who provides additional expertise and
knowledge on protozoans and bacteria as applied
to disease. Together, they make the Fossil
Behavior Compendium wider in scope, covering
all relevant animal and plant groups and all
epochs, and providing a detailed review of animal
and plant fossil behavior in terrestrial and
aquatic environments. Fossil behavior encompasses
not only past evidence of the life history
of an organism but also behavioral, predatoy,
and symbiotic interactions, including parasitism.
This book compares patterns of behavior
and coevolution in the past with those of the
present-day descendants. It also discusses how
to evaluate the rates of evolution of behavior
and coevolution at various taxonomic levels.
The compendium emphasizes the interactions
between fossils and compares these interactions
with present-day counterparts. It also
provides new discussions on topics related to
fossils in amber. Keeping Boucot’s trademark,
easy-to-read style, the book includes new
findings never published previously, reports
not easily accessed, numerous examples, 40
tables, 285 illustrations—some published here
for the first time—and a four-page color insert.
The book provides a concise account of the
evidence for varied disease types recognized to
date in the fossil record.
The Wildlife Techniques Manual: Volume 1:
Research. Volume 2: Management, 2-vol. set,
Seventh Edition. Nova J. Silvy (Ed.). 2012. Johns
Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 1136
pp. $150.00, hardcover. ISBN 9781421401591.
Since its original publication in 1960, The Wildlife
Techniques Manual has remained the cornerstone
text for the professional wildlife biologist. Now fully
revised and updated, this seventh edition promises
to be the most comprehensive resource on wildlife
biology, conservation, and management for years to
come. Superbly edited by Nova J. Silvy, the thirtyseven
authoritative chapters included in this work
provide a full synthesis of methods used in the field
and laboratory. Chapter authors, all leading wildlife
professionals, explain and critique traditional and
new methodologies and offer thorough discussions
of a wide range of relevant topics. A standard text
in a variety of courses, the Techniques Manual,
as it is commonly called, covers every aspect of
modern wildlife management and provides practical
information for applying the hundreds of methods
described in its pages. To effectively incorporate the
explosion of new information in the wildlife profession,
this latest edition is logically organized into
a two-volume set: Volume 1 is devoted to research
techniques, and Volume 2 focuses on management
methodologies. The Wildlife Techniques Manual
is a resource that professionals and students in
wildlife biology, conservation, and management
simply cannot do without.
Turtles of the United States and Canada, Second
Edition. Carl H. Ernst and Jeffrey E. Lovich. 2009.
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
840 pp. $98.00, hardcover. ISBN 9780801891212.
Ernst and Lovich’s thoroughly revised edition of
this classic reference provides the most updated
information ever assembled on the natural histories
of North American turtles. From diminutive mud
turtles to giant alligator snappers, two of North
America’s most prominent experts describe the
turtles that live in the fresh, brackish, and marine
waters north of Mexico. Incorporating the explosion
of new scientific information published on
turtles over the past fifteen years—including the
identification of four new species—Ernst and
Lovich supply comprehensive coverage of all
fifty-eight species, with discussions of conservation
status and recovery efforts. Each species account
contains information on identification, genetics,
fossil record, distribution, geographic variation,
habitat, behavior, reproduction, biology, growth
and longevity, food habits, populations, predators,
and conservation status. The book includes range
maps for freshwater and terrestrial species, a glossary
of scientific names, an extensive bibliography
for further research, and an index to scientific and
common names. Logically organized and richly
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Richard B. Primack. 2012. Sinauer Associates,
Sunderland, MA. 363 pp. $65.41, softcover. ISBN
9780878936236. A Primer of Conservation Biology,
Fifth Edition incorporates background, theory,
and examples in a lively and readable text that will
appeal to a wide audience and stimulate interest in
conservation biology. The book provides the most
up-to-date perspective on many high-profile issues
in the field, such as sustainable development, global
warming, payments for ecosystem services, and
strategies to save species on the verge of extinction.
The Primer is divided into nine chapters, focusing
successively on biological diversity and its value,
the threats to biological diversity, conservation
at the population and species levels, protecting,
managing and restoring ecosystems, and sustainable
development. The book provides many examples
of successful conservation approaches, such as
one involving sea turtles in Brazil, and ends with
suggestions for a future agenda. Throughout, the
choice of examples is well balanced to show the
full range of species, ecosystems, and geographic
areas of the world. These examples are also selected
to demonstrate the controversies in the field,
and stimulate thought and discussion. The links
between conservation biology and environmental
law, environmental economics, philosophy, social
sciences and anthropology, park management, and
government policy are clearly presented. The book
is very well illustrated in color. The reader-friendly
text is backed by an extensive bibliography (covering
literature through 2012) and a glossary. There
is an annotated list of suggested readings, a summary,
and discussion questions at the end of each
chapter. Key conservation organizations and their
websites are presented in an Appendix. A Primer
of Conservation Biology is ideally suited for use
in short undergraduate courses, either as a standalone
text or supplemented by outside readings.
It can also be used effectively as a supplemental
resource in courses in introductory biology, general
ecology, population biology, environmental science,
and wildlife management. Its broad perspective,
concise format, and appealing writing style make
the Primer the perfect choice for students, professionals,
government policymakers, and others who
are eager to learn more about conservation biology.
These same qualities give the book a strong appeal
to students whose first language is not English.
The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature.
David George Haskell. 2012. Penguin Group,
New York, NY. 288 pp. $16.00, softcover. ISBN
9780143122944. Written with remarkable grace
illustrated—with more than two hundred color
photographs and fifty-two maps—Turtles of the
United States and Canada remains the standard for
libraries, museums, nature centers, field biologists,
and professional and amateur herpetologists alike.
Animal Physiology, Third Edition. Richard W.
Hill, Gordon A. Wyse, and Margaret Anderson.
2012. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA. 799
pp. $123.21, hardcover. ISBN 9780878935598.
Animal Physiology presents all the branches of
modern animal physiology with a strong emphasis
on integration of physiological knowledge, ecology,
and evolutionary biology. Integration extends from
molecules to organ systems and from one physiological
discipline to another. The book takes an
entirely fresh approach to each topic. Its full-color
illustrations include many novel, visually effective
features to help students learn. Each of the 25 main
chapters starts with a brief animal example to engage
student interest and demonstrate the value of the
material that will be learned. The book includes five
additional, briefer “At Work” chapters that apply
students’ newfound physiological knowledge to
curiosity-provoking and important topics, including
diving by marine mammals, the mechanisms of
navigation, and muscle plasticity in use and disuse.
The book is committed to a comparative approach
throughout. Whereas mammalian physiology is
consistently treated in depth, emphasis is also given
to the other vertebrate groups, arthropods, molluscs,
and—as appropriate—additional invertebrates.
Concepts and integrative themes are emphasized
while giving students the specifics they need. The
whole animal is the principal focus of this book.
The pages are filled with information on everything
from knockout mice, genomics, and enzyme chemistry
to traditional organ physiology, phylogenetic
analysis, and applications to human affairs. Always,
the central organizing principle for the array of
topics presented is to understand whole animals in
the environments where they live. Concepts from
chemistry, physics, and mathematics are explained
so that the book will be accessible to science students
at the sophomore or higher level. Complex principles
are developed clearly and carefully, to help
students understand important concepts in sufficient
depth without being overwhelmed. Pedagogical aids
include embedded summaries throughout chapters,
study questions, partially annotated reference lists,
an extensive glossary, appendices, and an upgraded
index. For all three authors, teaching physiology to
undergraduate students has been a lifelong priority.
A Primer of Conservation Biology, Fifth Edition.
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destruction of their habitats, malicious killing,
the pet trade, hunting, and pollution—and
describes the most common methods employed
by herpetologists and wildlife biologists to
safely capture and document reptiles in nature.
Complete with a checklist that will help readers
keep track of reptiles they discover, a glossary,
and a list of recommended readings, organizations,
and websites for those seeking additional
information, Reptiles of Tennessee will prove
an essential resource for teachers, biologists,
and anyone having a stake in the conservation
of biodiversity and the natural heritage of the
Volunteer State and the nation.
The Biology of Reefs and Reef Organisms.
Walter M. Goldberg. P2013. University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 401 pp. $55.00,
softcover. ISBN 9780226301686. Reefs provide
a wealth of opportunity for learning about
biological and ecosystem processes, and reef
biology courses are among the most popular
in marine biology and zoology departments
the world over. Walter M. Goldberg has taught
one such course for years, and he marshals that
experience in the pages of The Biology of Reefs
and Reef Organisms. Goldberg examines the
nature not only of coral reefs—the best known
among types of reefs—but also of sponge reefs,
worm reefs, and oyster reefs, explaining the
factors that influence their growth, distribution,
and structure. A central focus of the book is reef
construction, and Goldberg details the plants
and animals that form the scaffold of the reef
system and allow for the attachment and growth
of other organisms, including those that function
as bafflers, binders, and cementing agents.
He also tours readers through reef ecology,
paleontology, and biogeography, all of which
serve as background for the problems reefs face
today and the challenge of their conservation.
Visually impressive, profusely illustrated, and
easy to read, The Biology of Reefs and Reef Organisms
offers a fascinating introduction to reef
science and will appeal to students and instructors
of marine biology, comparative zoology,
and oceanography.
and empathy, The Forest Unseen is a grand tour
of nature in all its profundity. Biologist David
George Haskell uses a one-square-meter patch of
old-growth Tennessee forest as a window onto the
entire natural world. Visiting it almost daily for one
year to trace nature’s path through the seasons, he
brings the forest and its inhabitants to vivid life.
Beginning with simple observations—a salamander
scuttling across the leaf litter, the first blossom of
spring wildflowers—Haskell spins a brilliant web of
biology, ecology, and poetry, explaining the science
binding together ecosystems that have cycled for
thousands—sometimes millions—of years.
The Reptiles of Tennessee. Matthew L. Niemiller,
R. Graham Reynolds, and Brian T. Miller
(Eds.). 2013. Univiersity of Tennessee Press,
Knoxville, TN. 366 pp. $49.95, softcover.
ISBN 1572339497. Tennessee’s biotic diversity
has been well documented in field guides
dedicated to its wildflowers; trees, shrubs, and
woody vines; mussels; fishes; amphibians; and
birds. Glaringly absent from this assemblage,
however, is an equivalent statewide guide to
the remarkably diverse reptiles of the Volunteer
State. This book fills that void by offering the
first authoritative overview of all sixty native
species of reptiles occurring in Tennessee. Both
a field guide and a scientific reference, this definitive
work will prove useful to professionals
who work with reptiles for a living as well as
those just curious about the various creatures
living in their own backyards. The bulk of the
book is devoted to individual species accounts,
each of which includes a detailed range map
and comprehensive information on identification,
natural history, and conservation of the
lizards, snakes, turtles, and alligator native to
Tennessee. Also included is information on
known introduced species and species whose
presence in Tennessee is questionable. Vivid
color photographs illustrate each species’ various
life stages. Introductory chapters provide
an overview of reptile anatomy and life history,
and of the geography, climate, and habitats in
the state. Giving special attention to reptile conservation,
the book highlights various threats
to Tennessee’s reptile species—including the
The Southeastern Naturalist welcomes submissions of review copies of books that publishers or authors
would like to recommend to the journal’s readership and are relevant to the journal’s mission of
publishing information about the natural history of the southeastern US. Accompanying short, descriptive
summaries of the text are also welcome.