Mercedes Foster – författare

Measuring and Monitoring Biological Diversity is the first book to provide comprehensive coverage of standard methods for biodiversity sampling of amphibians, with information on analysing and using data that will interest biologists in general. In this manual, nearly fifty herpetologists recommend ten standard sampling procedures for measuring and monitoring amphibian and many other populations. The contributors discuss each procedure, along with the circumstances for its appropriate use. In addition, they provide a detailed protocol for each procedure's implementation, a list of necessary equipment and personnel and suggestions for analysing the data. The data obtained using these standard methods are comparable across sites and through time and as a result, are extremely useful for making decisions about habitat protection, sustained use and restoration--decisions that are particularly relevant for threatened amphibian populations.

Measuring and Monitoring Biological Diversity: Standard Methods for Mammals provides a comprehensive manual for designing and implementing inventories of mammalian biodiversity anywhere in the world and for any group, from rodents to open-country grazers. The book emphasizes formal estimation approaches, which supply data that can be compared across habitats and over time. Beginning with brief natural histories of the twenty-six orders of living mammals, the book details the field techniques, observation, capture and sign interpretation, appropriate to different species. The contributors provide guidelines for study design, discuss survey planning, describe statistical techniques and outline methods of translating field data into electronic formats. Extensive appendixes address such issues as the ethical treatment of animals in research, human health concerns, preserving voucher specimens and assessing age, sex and reproductive condition in mammals. Useful in both developed and developing countries, this volume and the Biological Diversity Handbook Series as a whole establish essential standards for a key aspect of conservation biology and resource management.