This book is the first comprehensive account of all 46 species of land-breeding mammals known in New Zealand, native and exotic, wild and feral, living and extinct. It describes their history, biology, and ecology, and brings together much information which has been gathered from widely scattered sources or was hitherto unpublished. The description of each species is arranged under conventional headings, and is standardized 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. Each species account emphasizes the ecological effects of the introductions: for the natives, changes in numbers and distribution, and for the arrivals, changes in habitat, diet, numbers, and size in comparison with their ancestral stocks. The editor's introduction summarizes the general history and characteristics of the mammal fauna of New Zealand, and describes some of the problems that mammals present to resource managers in contemporary times. The twenty-nine contributors are all leading authorities in mammal science in New Zealand, and all have studied in the field the species they describe. This book will become the definitive work on the mammals of New Zealand, and a standard source of reference for mammal biologists both in New Zealand and elsewhere in the world. It will also be of considerable interest to ecologists interested in evolutionary adaptation in mammals.
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'...the reasonably priced second edition of this handbook is a must for everyone interested in New Zealand mammals and/or the biology of introduced species and certainly deserves to become as widespread as the first edition. Mammalian Biology 73 (2008) 79-82.
--This text refers to the
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An absolute gem!
9 July 2011
By R. M. Timm
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This comprehensive guide to New Zealand's mammals is not only the best collection of information on these species from a scientific standpoint, but it's very readable. The editor (Carolyn M. King) and the various authors of the 46 species chapters included within this volume have produced a concise, fact-filled book that summarizes biological, historical, behavioral, and management information for each species, the vast majority of which were introduced (intentionally or unintentionally) to New Zealand from the 19th century onwards. The editor's 27-page introduction puts the biology and management of New Zealand's mammals into a dynamic context that describes how ecosystems have changed, and are changing, in this country where the avifauna and the flora evolved essentially in the absence of any mammals. Thus, the many introductions created unforeseen problems and large-scale changes in most every type of New Zealand environment. Ecological and economic damage caused by introduced pests (for example, brushtail possums, ship rats, stoats, European rabbits) as well as conflicts caused by "desirable" species (for example, red deer, Himalayan tahr, chamois) are described even-handedly and factually. Nearly 3,000 scientific papers are cited in the References section, and a helpful Glossary is provided. The artwork by Priscilla Barrett, including 16 color plates, is of high quality and attractive. If you purchase a used copy, get the second edition (2005), as it incorporates much new scientific information that was added since the first edition was published. My only wish is that this book had a comprehensive subject index, in addition to the species index and the extensive geographic index.
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