book reviews

Journal of Biogeography,

27

, 1469–1472

© 2000 Blackwell Science Ltd

Blackwell Science, Ltd

Book Reviews

Landmark for systematic conservation planning

Heath, M. F., Evans, M. I., Hoccom, D. G., Payne, A. J. & Peet, N. B. (2000)

Important bird areas in Europe: priority sites for conservation

. BirdLife Conservation Series no. 8. BirdLife International, distributed by NHBS Ltd, Totnes, Devon, UK.

Volume 1: Northern Europe

. xiii + 866 pp., maps, index.

Volume 2: Southern Europe

. xiii + 791 pp., maps, index. Paperback: single volume, price £48.75, 2 volume set, price £75.00. ISBN 0946888 34 5 (Volume 1, softback), 0946888 35 3 (Volume 2, softback), 0946888 36 1 (2 volume set, softback). Hardback: 2 volume set, price £99.98. ISBN 0946888 37 X

.

BirdLife has surpassed itself this time. Thepartnership’s already enviable reputationfor systematic conservation planning willreach new heights with the publication ofthis directory of 3619 Important Bird Areas(IBAs) in Europe. This publication buildson and updates the first Pan-European IBAinventory published in 1989 (Grimmett &Jones, 1989). Coverage is expanded from39 countries to 51 countries and autonomousregions—from Greenland to Western Russiaand the Azores to Azerbaijan. This newdirectory is organized into two volumes(Vol. 1: Northern Europe; and Vol. 2:Southern Europe) each weighing in at 6 kg!The introductory chapters (80 pages) arethe same in both volumes.

Systematic conservation planning tech-niques are distinguished by their ability toidentify efficiently potential conservation areasthat collectively achieve an explicit goalfor the region of interest (Pressey, 1999).Most are variants on two basic approaches:(1) representation of habitats and biogeo-graphic variation; and (2) identification ofspecial elements, such as concentrationsof rare, endemic or localized species. TheIBA approach falls into the latter categoryand this pan-European study is state of theart.

The goal of the IBA programme is toidentify, protect and manage a network ofsites that are important for the long-termviability of naturally occurring bird popula-tions. Sites are designated an IBA on the basis

of international importance for threatenedbird species, congregatory bird species,assemblages of restricted-range species and/orassemblages of biome-restricted bird species.The chapter titled ‘Identifying importantbird areas’ details an explicit, transparentand repeatable methodology which applies20 quantitative ornithological criteria in14 categories to make this assessment. Thecategories are further grouped as (A) global(4 categories), (B) European (4 categories)and (C) European Union (6 categories). TheEuropean Union criteria are used forselecting sites that qualify, under the ECBirds Directive, as Special Protection Areas(SPAs).

Data collection to apply the criteriaand then characterize IBAs was undertakenby an impressive network of national IBAcoordinators in each national bird organ-ization (the BirdLife partner) linking withhundreds of national and local experts andagencies, and supervised by the BirdLifeInternational Cambridge secretariat. Datacollection was standardized and classifica-tions chosen to promote compatibility withother site-based, pan-European initiatives,e.g. the Nature 2000 network of the Euro-pean Commission. The IBA data base is partof the BirdLife World Bird Database, andsummary output of this data base forms theindividual IBA site accounts that make upthe bulk of these two volumes.

IBA site accounts are grouped accordingto country and are introduced with a stand-ardized national overview comprising a gen-eral overview of the country, its ornithologicalimportance, habitats, impacts on IBAs andprotection status, tabulated summaries ofIBAs and a location map. The style and con-tent is descriptive rather than analytical. Eachindividual IBA account commences with abox of key information: name, administrat-ive region, coordinates, altitude, area, thecriteria the site meets and a useful thumb-nail location map. This is followed by fourheadings: site description with a list ofhabitat types occurring; birds, including atable of bird species meeting the criteria andoccurring at the site; protection status; andconservation issues. Text under each head-ing is limited to two lines.

This directory is certainly a landmark inthe 10-year-old BirdLife IBA programme

and the data presented are intended to guidepractical management actions at IBAs andto target political and legal mechanisms toachieve adequate protection of IBAs. In myassessment, this study could become a land-mark in the field of systematic conservationplanning on account of the mutually rein-forcing links between quantitative scientificcriteria, an inclusive process of data collec-tion, and assessment of opportunities forreal world action. With respect to the latter,the IBA programme is designed to help andpressure governments to meet their legalobligations to designate and protect sitesunder national law and international con-ventions. In 1998, the European Court ofJustice used the first IBA directory as a basisof reference to rule that the government ofthe Netherlands had failed to comply fullywith its obligation to classify special protec-tion areas. This new directory is set to becomea key legal benchmark to assess complianceof EU member states, and potential memberstates, with nature conservation legislation.It is an enormously empowering documentfor all who believe that conservation ofnatural heritage should be a central principleof the European vision.

These two directories are essential refer-ences for all agencies and professionalsinvolved in land use planning and natureconservation in Europe. For academicsthe IBA data base constitutes an importantand exciting data set for research on appliedaspects of environmental policy. TheBirdLife partnership plans to make thisdirectory available on CD ROM and theinternet in 2001, and is considering plans toenable internet access to the World BirdDatabase.

paul jepson

School of Geography and the Environment,University of Oxford, UK

REFERENCES

Grimmett, R. F. A. & Jones, T. A. (1989)

Important bird areas in Europe

,

ICBPTechnical Publication 9. InternationalCouncil for Bird Preservation, Cambridge,UK.

Pressey, R. L. (1999) Editorial — system-atic conservation planning for the realworld.

Parks

,

9

, 1–6.

JBI480.fm 469 Tuesday, March 20, 2001 8:30 AM

1470 Book Reviews

© Blackwell Science Ltd 2000,

Journal of Biogeography

,

27

, 1469–1472

27no issue no.2000504Book ReviewsBook Reviews100Graphicraft Limited, Hong KongBook Reviews

Biogeography—a discipline for a new Millennium?

Cox, C. B. & Moore, P. D. (1999)

Biogeography: an ecological and evolutionary approach

, 6th edn. Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford, UK. ix + 298 pp., figs, index, Paperback: Price £24.50. ISBN 0-86542-778-X

.

As we move into a new millennium withthe Rio Summit of 1992 fast becoming adistant part of biological and human his-tory, and as the biodiversity bandwagon rollsever onwards, the reprint of this textbookseems somehow appropriate and timely.This offering represents the sixth editionof a long-standing and well-loved text onbiogeography. With a history spanning some27 years the book has become a foundationtext for many courses on biogeography inthe UK and elsewhere, and has undergonealmost as many ‘evolutionary’ revisions asthe Hawaiian honeycreepers. In the fastmoving world of science, paradigms havebeen and gone, debates aired, documentedand shelved. For example, Island Biogeo-graphy theory, so influential in the early1970s–1980s, has been critiqued and the newicon of biodiversity has supplanted it asa central player in biogeography. Thus, anumber of questions require answers. Hasthis book moved with the times? Does itoffer a realistic picture of current thinkingin biogeography? And more broadly, hasthe discipline of biogeography got anythingto offer the 21st century?

An extensively revised chapter intro-duces the book. Biogeography is defined as‘the study of living things in time and space’(p. 1). Such a definition encompasses a widerange of subdisciplines in biological andgeographical sciences and requires furtherexplanation. This is provided by an explorationof the distinction between ecological andhistorical biogeography. The main thrust ofthe chapter is to introduce the rationale ofthe book and the content of the chapters.The approach is greatly enhanced by referenceto Niemala and his co-workers’ study ofthe microdistribution of ground beetles inthe Finnish boreal forests and Smith’s exam-ination of packrat body size using fos-silized faecal pellets from their middens. Suchexamples indicate the scope and wide-rangingremit of biogeography and provide a tasterof things to come in later chapters.

The book then moves straight into oneof the major issues of today—biodiversity.A distinction is made between the need toconserve nature for (i) functional /instru-

mental reasons, i.e. the environment as theprovider and sustainer of human life, and(ii) aesthetic or ethical reasons, in that humansenjoy ‘wildlife’ and as influential players inthe global ecosystem we are in some waymorally obliged to conserve it. Such asser-tions are left unchallenged, but the recentresurgence towards a more holistic viewof people and nature (e.g. Macnaughten &Urry, 1998; Massey, 1999) and the blurringof the boundaries between science andsociety (Bradshaw & Bekoff, 2000) indicatethat some (re)evaluation of these issuesis required, if only to provide a broadercontext for the role of biogeography. Thisis a good chapter that considers the debatesurrounding how many species exist globally,gradients in species diversity, biodiversityhot-spots and temporal patterns of diversity.As with every textbook one could takeissue with the literature cited, but the mostimportant omissions are recent papers thatwere published after the research for the bookwas completed, so the authors cannot beheld hostage over this.

We then move towards more familiarground. Chapter 3 considers patterns indistribution using a diversity of examplesranging from dragonflies, freshwater shrimpsand magnolias, through oystercatchers, totrees and arctic char. The emphasis is on theelucidation of climatic relicts with disjunctdistributions, limiting factors on plant andanimal distributions, and aspects of speciesinteraction such as competition and preda-tion. This is a thorough and clear examina-tion of how species of organisms live theirlives, although the only real addition of newmaterial relates to the inclusion of a tableon ‘aliens’ and a discussion of displacementof indigenous species as a result of theirintroduction. Chapter 4 examines com-munities, ecosystems, nutrient cycling andintroduces new material on ecosystem func-tioning (e.g. keystone and redundant species).Thereafter, a revised section examining globalbiotic patterns is a vast improvement onlaboured descriptions of biomes (one byone), which characterized the equivalentchapter in the 5th edition.

From the present the emphasis thenswitches to the past. Darwinian evolutionas the source of novelty in biodiversity isconsidered in Chapter 5, and the import-ance of plate tectonics, extinction eventsand climate change in shaping present daypatterns of distribution in ‘deep’ and recentgeological time is considered at length inChapters 6 and 7. Here the well-formulateddiscussion of mammal and flowering plantdistributions has much that most students

will find engaging and interesting. There isstill a need for more illustrative material,however, which would help in supportingthe often lengthy explanations (e.g. a tableof families in the Great American Inter-change). In my opinion the temporal journeyneeds closing here and the subject materialrequires extending to encompass the largescale and significant events that took placeduring the Pleistocene—we have to waituntil Chapters 9 and 10 to catch up withthis episode in the history of life on earth.

The tools and methodologies that bio-geographers use to analyse their historicaldata sets are examined in chapter 8. Thecoverage here is detailed but the approacheffectively over-emphasizes the importance ofpalynology. There is a need for a more bal-anced picture that should include more linesof evidence, notably the invertebrates, whichare conspicuously absent (e.g. Elias, 1994).Chapters 9 and 10 introduce the readersto the final sculpting of global environ-ments during the Pleistocene, an era thatwas characterized by large-scale shifts inclimate and the evolution and spread of thehominids.

A plethora of endemics, unique ecolo-gical histories and the intimate relationshipwith humans ensures that islands have longheld the attention of biogeographers.Chapter 13 examines several of these issues.The chapter opens with a discussion of thedifferences between islands and continents,which is used as a springboard to examinethe unique characteristics of islands. It isa pity that the authors fail to cite Cronk’s(1997) excellent paper on islands, as it wouldlend further support to their narrative. None-theless, the chapter provides a thoroughintroduction to, and fine critique of, thetheory of Island Biogeography. The em-phasis on different island types, however, isworthy of further exploration as it is oftenrelated to their geological history. Not allislands are replete with unique species. Forexample, the islands in the North Atlantic(e.g. Iceland, Faroe and Greenland) have noknown endemics, as a result of complete icecover during the last glaciation (Buckland,1988). Free of ice for only some 10,000 years,the biota of these islands is a result of post-glacial immigration and their recent his-tories are intimately associated with humancolonization and their subsequent activities(Sadler, 1999). A comparative examinationof the scale and magnitude of ecologicalchanges in response to human impact ondifferent island groups (e.g. Pacific, Atlantic,and so on) would be an instructive additionto the material in this chapter.

JBI480.fm Page 1470 Tuesday, March 20, 2001 8:30 AM

Book Reviews 1471



,

27

, 1469–1472

The importance of antecedence in shap-ing present day biological patterns and pro-cesses is a pervasive theme throughout manyof the chapters (e.g. Chapters 6, 7, 9 and 10).It is clear that in biogeography (as elsewherein science) how one frames a question orgenerates an hypothesis can have a ratherdeterministic effect on the likely answers—in short both the ecological and historical‘schools’ provide only half an answer to anyparticular question. The full integration ofboth elements should provide biogeographywith a focus in the coming few decades,and this book offers numerous examples ofthe potential of such an approach. Thispoint is well illustrated in Chapter 13, wherean assessment of successional and coloniza-tion patterns on Rakata, Indonesia, basedon the work of R. J. Whittaker and colleagues,clearly shows why Island Biogeographytheory cannot be used as a panacea for allbiological problems.

As a narrative the book is excellent. Thewriting is clear and lucid and the choice ofexamples instructive, interesting and some-times downright quirky. Proofing errors arerare and the production of the book is good.However, the use of gendered language inChapter 10 needs attention, although it couldbe that most women would be happy toblame Clovis ‘man’ for the destruction ofthe megafauna of the United States at thestart of the Holocene! Similarly, the use ofa combination of both scientific and com-mon names for plants and animals is alsogood, although

Sympetrum sanguineum

isperhaps better known as the ruddy darterrather than the ruddy sympetrum.

The inclusion of a ‘blue wash’ to theredrafted diagrams and a few colour platesis a vast improvement on the monochromeillustrations in the 5th edition. However,the relative dearth of illustrative material inmost of the chapters gives the text an oldfashioned look and feel. From a pedago-gical standpoint the ordering of the chaptersalso requires a little attention. The materialleaps from pattern to process and from pre-sent to past and it is possible that studentsmay find this intellectual gymnastics a littletoo exhausting. Moreover, Chapters 12and 13, examining oceans and islands,appear dislocated at the end of the book.It should be possible to group the chaptersby dealing with the present and then movingto the past and finally resolving the bookwith Chapter 11 that deals with projectinginto the future.

So to return to the initial question, doesthe book make the grade? Well, the shortanswer is yes. The coverage and content is

excellent and this edition introduces twomajor improvements since the last one: first,the provision of chapter summaries thatalert the reader to the key points of eachchapter is a long overdue and useful addi-tion. Secondly, there has been a thoroughupdate of the book, with the addition oftwo completely new chapters (11 and 12)and the inclusion of valuable up-to-datematerial in many of the other chapters. It isthe structure of the book and presentation/inclusion of illustrative material that requiresmost attention. The next revision needs tosee the text supported with more illustrativematerial, plates, text boxes and such like,which should make the material moreaccessible to the reader. A new ‘more con-temporary’ and eye catching cover wouldalso help market the book. Even a cursoryglance at on-line book catalogues showsthat the potential competition for this bookis growing rapidly. Indeed, several booksare planned for publication in 2001—theopposition is snapping at their heels. Themessage is clear—further evolution in thestyle of presentation is necessary or a reduc-tion in circulation will be the end result. Itwould be a real pity to watch this stalwarttext become extinct.

As to the second question what hasbiogeography to offer? Here there is a realneed to emphasize the importance of under-standing synergistic interplay of both timeand space and its effect on plants and animalsat a variety of taxonomic scales. Cox andMoore’s book clearly shows this, althoughI am of the opinion that the message couldhave been made much more explicit. Thereis a very real need for biogeographers toengage more actively in the internationalglobal environmental change debates andinvolve themselves more fully with policymakers. It is time that we stopped hidingour academic light under a bushel.

jon p. sadler

The University of Birmingham, UK

REFERENCES

Bradshaw, G. A. & Bekoff, M. (2000)Integrating humans and nature: recon-ciling the boundaries of science and society.

Trends in Ecology

and

Evolution

,

15

,309–310.

Buckland, P. C. (1988) North Atlantic con-nections: introductions or endemics.

EntScandinavian Supplement

,

32

, 7–29.Cronk, Q. C. B. (1997) Islands: stability,

diversity, conservation.

Biodiversity andConservation

,

6

, 477–493.Elias, S. A. (1994)

Quaternary insects and

their environments

. Smithsonian Institu-tion Press, Washington.

Macnaughten, P. & Urry, J. (1998)

Contestednatures

. Sage Publications, London.Massey, D. (1999) Space-time, ‘science’ and

the relationship between physical geo-graphy and human geography.

Transac-tions of the Institute of British Geographers

,

24

, 261–276.Sadler, J. P. (1999) Biodiversity on oceanic

islands: a palaeoecological assessment.


,

26

, 75–87.

27no issue no.2000505

Book ReviewsBook Reviews

100Graphicraft Limited, Hong KongBook Reviews

Bats in the Land of Surprises

Bonaccorso, F. J. (2000)

Bats of Papua New Guinea

. Conservation International, Tropical Field Guide Series, 2. The Univer-sity of Chicago Press, Chicago. 489 pp., figs, colour plates. Paperback: Price £28.00, US$40.00. ISBN 1-881173-26-7.


is the secondvolume in Conservation International’sTropical Field Guide series—the first being

Field Guide to the Lemurs of Madagascar

,published in 1994. Like ‘Lemurs’,

Bats ofPapua New Guinea

is every bit as much atribute to its author—and the handful of otherhardy field biologists who have worked inthis remote and difficult region of the globe.Papua New Guinea is not an easy place towork, but it is invariably interesting. Cul-turally, Papua New Guinea is astonishing—nearly 900 languages are still spoken!

Batsof Papua New Guinea

enables readers toidentify bats of the region, and it also pro-vides them with a wealth of informationon the biology and conservation of thesefascinating animals. The author is uniquelyqualified to write such a book, having spentmany years studying bats in Papua NewGuinea—and other remote areas.

Papua New Guinea is aptly described intourist brochures as ‘The Land of Surprises’and many chiropterological surprises aredescribed in


.One of the most remarkable is the case ofBulmer’s Fruit Bat (

Aproteles bulmeri

).Originally described in the 1970s on the basisof 9,000–12,000-year-old fossils, Bulmer’sFruit Bat was regarded as extinct until theunexpected capture of live animals in 1992.Unfortunately, the tale of Bulmer’s Fruit Batmay be near its end—there are probablyonly a few hundred individuals left in the wildand it is feared that the species may soonjoin the ranks of truly extinct animals. Butnot all Papua New Guinea bat tales are dis-couraging and many species are still common.


1472 Book Reviews



,

27

, 1469–1472

Papua New Guinea is among the world’smost biodiverse countries and around 80%of the original forest cover still remains.Ninety-one species of bat (making uparound 9% of the world’s total) have beenidentified from Papua New Guinea, although,as is made clear by the author, morealmost certainly remain to be discovered.Nineteen species (21%) are endemic toPapua New Guinea. Fifty-seven species aremicrobats, the remaining 34 are megabats—including several species of large flying-fox, which feature prominently in the dietand as a recurring motif in the art of localpeople.


is welldesigned for use in the field or the laborat-

ory. Measuring 7.5

×

4.5

×

1.25 inches theguide fits into a pocket or pack and the pagesand binding are robust enough to survive ina tropical climate;


will also stand up on a bookshelf. Bat iden-tification is facilitated by straightforwardkeys, easy-to-follow descriptions of the phys-ical features of bats, including measurements,distribution maps and excellent illustrations.Also provided is a biogeographical overviewof bats of the region and some interestingphysiological comparisons between bats andbirds. Users of


will find, as in most places, that some batsare quite easy to identify, but there areothers that require specialist knowledge anda few are virtually impossible to identify

without an examination of their skulls. I was,consequently, rather surprised to see that theauthor (himself a museum curator whosurely understands the value of specimens)advised readers to take photographs, ratherthan specimens.

This book is a must for bat enthusiastsintending to visit Papua New Guinea or theneighbouring country—West Papua (IrianJaya). If you are not presently interested inbats, or in Papua New Guinea, reading thisbook might help to change your mind.

chris tidemann

School of Resource Management andEnvironmental Science,

Australian National University,Australia


book reviews

Documents