Tropical Mammals

Book reviewed in this article:
The Asian Elephant. Ecology and Management. Sukumar, R.
Lemurs of Madagascar and the Comoros. Harcourt, C., and J. Thornback.
Neotropical Rainforest Mammals. A Field Guide. Emmons, L. E. with illustrations by Feer, F.
More on Tropical Mammals
The Indian Blackbuck. Ranjitsinh, M. K.
Plant Ecology: A Sheffieldocentric View
Comparative Plant Ecology: A Functional Approach to Common British Species. Grime, J. P., Hodgson, J. G., and Hunt, R.
Ecology in the Service of Development
Race to Save the Tropics: Ecology and Economics for a Sustainable Future. 1990. Goodland, R., editor.
Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia
Government Policies and Deforestation on Brazil's Amazon Region. Mahar, D.J.
"Ancient Forests": Valuable Data, Questionable Conclusions
Ancient Forests of the Pacific Northwest. Norse, Elliot A.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
National Forests: Policies for the Future. Volume 2: Protecting Biological Diversity. Wilcove, D. S. 1988.
Reforming the Forest Service. O'Toole, R. 1988.
Seeds and Sovereignty: The Use and Control of Genetic Resources. Kloppenburg, J. R., editor. 1988.
Viable Populations for Conservation. Soule, M. E., editor. 1987.
Models of Nature: Ecology, Conservation and Cultural Revolution in Soviet Russia. Weiner, D. R.
The Conservation of Australian Wetlands. McComb, A. J., and Lake, P. S., editors.     

Depletion and Conservation of Japan's Forests

Book reviewed in this article:
The Green Archipelago: Forestry in Preindustrial Japan . Totman, C.
Conservation Biology: Outlook for the Future
Conservation for the Twentyfirst Century. Western, D., and Pearl, M., editors.
Conservation Biology: Hawai'I
Conservation Biology in Hawai'i. Stone, C. P., and Stone, D. B.
Important Recent Developments in Valuing Environmental Goods
Using Surveys to Value Public Goods: The Contingent Valuation Method. Mitchell, R. C., and Carson, R. T.
Tropical Forest Conservation: Getting the Act Together
The Future of the Tropical Rain Forest. Proceedings of an international conference organized by the Oxford Forestry Institute. McDermott, M. J., editor.
Saving the Tropical Forests. Gradwohl, J., and Greenberg, R.
Crop Breeders' Use of Gene Bank Collections
The Use of Plant Genetic Resources. Brown, A. H. D., Frankel, O.H., Marshall, D.R., and Williams, J. T., editors.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this artcle:
The Fall of a Sparrow. Ali, Salim. 1987.
Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences-Animal and Plant Sciences-Supplement. Rao, C.N., ed. 1986.
Concise Flowers of the Himalaya Polunin, O., and Stainton, A. 1987.
Conservation for Productive Agriculture. Chopra, V. L., and T. N. Khoshoo, eds. 1986.
Encyclopedia of Indian Natural History. Centenary Publication of the Bombay Natural History Society, 1883–1983. Hawkins, R. E., ed. 1986.
The Ecology of Sumatra. Whitten A. J., Damanik, S. J., Anwar, J., and Hisyam, N. 1987.
The Ecology of Sulawesi. Whitten, A. J., Mustafa, M., and Henderson, G. S. 1987.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Plants in Danger: What Do We Know? David, S., Droop, S., Gregerson, T., Henson, O., Leon, C., Gilla-Lobos, J., Synge, H., and Zantovska, J.
Botanic Gardens and The World Conservation Strategy. Bramwell, D., Hamann, O., Heywood, W., and Synge, H., eds. 1987
Forest Conservation and the Forestry Master Plan for Sri Lanka: A Review. Ranjen Fernando and S. W. R. de A Samarasinghe, eds. 1988.
Pharmacopées Traditionnelles en Guyane. Grenand, P., Moretti, C., and Jacquemin, H. 1987.
Submission of New Books     

Book Reviews

Environmental Ethics: Duties and Values in the Natural World. Rolston, H., III. 1988.
The First Resource: Wild Species in the North American Economy. Prescott-Allen, C., and Prescott-Allen, R. 1986.
Bureau of Land Management and Wildlife Protection Audubon Wildlife Report 1987. Di Silvestro, R L., editor. 1987.
Wildlife Management: Crocodiles and Alligators. Webb, G.J.W., Manolis, S. C., and White-head, P.J. 1987.     

Logging, Conservation, and Native Rights in Sarawak Forests

Books reviewed in this article:
Rainforest Conservation in Sarawak: An International Policy for WWF . Kavanagh, M.; Rahim, Abdullah Abdul; and Hails, C.J. 1989
The Promotion of Sustainable Forest Management: A Case Study in Sarawak, Malaysia . 1990. International Tropical Timber Organization
The Tropical Timber Industry In Sarawak, Malaysia . Congressional Staff Study Mission to Malaysia. 1989
Keepers of the Forest: Land Management Alternatives in Southeast Asia . Poffenberger, M., editor. 1990
Endangered Animals of Thailand . Humphrey, S. R, and Bain, J. R. 1990.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
For the Common Good. Daly, H. E., and Cobb, J. B., Jr.
The Disappearing Russian Forest: A Dilemma in Soviet Resource Management. Barr, B. M., and Braden, K. E.
Natural Resources for the 21st Century. Sampson, R. N., and Hair, D.
Managing Global Genetic Resources: The US National Plant Germplasm System. Committee on Managing Global Genetic Resources: Agricultural Imperatives. Board on Agriculture, National Research Council.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Americans and Their Forests: A Historical Geography. Williams, M.
The Forest and the Trees: A Guide to Excellent Forestry. Robinson, G.
Population Harvesting: Demographic Models of Fish, Forest, and Animal Resources . Getz, W. M. and Haight, R. G. 1989.
Floristic Inventory of Tropical Countries: The Status of Plant Systematic, Collections, and Vegetation, Plus Recommendations for the Future. Campbell, D. G., and Hammond, H. D., editors. 1989.
Biotic Diversity in Southern Africa—Concepts and Conservation. Huntley, B.J., editor. 1989.
Amphibians and Roads. Langton, T. E. S., editor.1989.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Research Priorities for Conservation Biology. Soulé, M. E., and Kohm, K.A., editors. 1989.
Evaluation of Biodiversity Projects. Committee on Criteria and Guidelines for the Evaluation of Projects Designed to Protect or Enhance Biodiversity. 1989.
The Ecology of Australia's Wet Tropics. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia. Volume 15. Kitching, R.L., editor 1988.
Stones of Silence: Journeys in the Himalaya. Schaller, G. B.
Tiger Moon. Sunquist, F., and Sunquist, M. 1988.
The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States. Benyus, J. M. 1989.
The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Western United States. Benyus, J. M. 1989.
Books Received (September 1988-August 1989) (Some of the books in the list below may be reviewed in future issues.)     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
A Morally Deep World: An Essay on Moral Significance and Environmental Ethics. Johnson, L. E.
Discordant Harmonies. Botkin, D. B.
The Preservation and Valuation of Biological Resources. Orians, G. H., Brown, G. M., Kunin, W. E., and Swierzbinski, J. E., editors.
Seabirds of Hawaii: Natural History and Conservation. Harrison, C. S.
Neotropical Wildlife Use and Conservation. Robinson, J.G., and Redford, K. H., editors.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this atricle:
Fish Populations: Light at the Start of the Tunnel Dynamics of Marine Fish Populations. Rothschild, Brian. 1986.
Ecology of Biological Invasions of North America and Hawaii. Mooney, H. A., and Drake, J. A., eds. 1986.
Amazonia Rain Forests: Ecosystem Disturbance and Recovery. Jordan, C. F., ed. 1987.
Gene Banks and the Worlds Food. Plucknett, Donald L.; Smith, Nigel J. H.; Williams, J. T.; and Anishetty, N. Murthi. 1987.
North Key Largo, Florida Habitat Conservation Plan. Siemon, C. L.; Larsen, W. U.; and Purdy, J. D. 1986.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Save The Birds. Diamond, A. W., R. L. Schreiber, R. T. Peterson, and W. Cronkite. 1989.
Ornithology. Gill, F. B. 1989.
Plant Population Genetics, Breeding, and Genetic Resources. Brown, A. H. D., Clegg, M. T., Kahler, A. L., and Weir, B. S. 1990.
WORLD BirdBase, the World Birder's Database. Santa Barbara Software Products
Keeping Options Alive. The Scientific Basis for Conserving Biodiversity. Reid, Walter V. and Miller, Kenton R. 1989.
Conserving the Worlds Biological Diversity. McNeely, Jeffrey A., Miller, Kenton R., Reid, Walter V., Mittermeier, Russell A., and Werner, Timothy B. 1990.     

Conservation Biology in Historical Perspective

Book reviewed in this article:
The American Conservation Movement: John Muir and His Legacy . Fox, S.
Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work. Meine, C.
An Overview of Biodiversity
Biodiversity. Wilson, E. O., editor.
Value of Biodiversity
Why Preserve Natural Variety? Norton, B.G.
Management of Common Property Resources
Proceedings of the Conference on Common Property Resource Management. Panel on Common Property Resource Management (Bromley, D. W., chair).
Conservation and Management of Bird Populations
The Pheasant: Ecology, Management and Conservation. Hill, D., and Robertson, P.
Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Birds. Goriup, P. D., editor.
Mammal Populations
Mammal Populations Mammal Population Studies. Harris, S., editor.
Taking a Stand for Forests
Last Stand of the Red Spruce . Mello, R. A.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Cultural Norms, War and the Environment. Westing, A. H., editor. 1988.
Environmental Warfare: A Technical, Legal and Policy Appraisal. Westing, A. H., editor. 1984.
Herbicides in War: The Longterm Ecological and Human Consequences. Westing, A. H., editor. 1984.
Explosive Remnants of War: Mitigating the Environmental Effects. Westing, A.H., editor. 1985.
Global Resources and International Conflict: Environmental Factors in Strategic Policy and Action. Westing, A. H., editor. 1986.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Conservation Biology: A New Discipline Comes of Age Conservation Biology. The Science of Scarcity and Diversity. Soulé, Michael E., ed. 1986.
Conserving Biological Diversity, in Our National Forests. Norse, E.A.; Rosenbaum, K.L.; Wilcove, D.S.; Wilcox, B.A.; Romme, W.H.; Johnston, D.W.; Stout, M.L. 1986.
Foundations for a National Biological Survey. Kim, Ke Chung; Knudson, L., eds. 1986.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
The Preservation of Species: The Value of Biological Diversity. Norton, Bryan G., ed. 1986.
Conservation of Tidal Marshes. Daiber, F.C. 1986.
The Last Extinction. Kaufman, L.; Mallory, K., eds. 1986.
Biology. Raven, P.H.; Johnson, G.B. 1986.     

Measuring q-bits in three-trophic level systems

The use of quantum information has been proposed as an approach to deal with biological data (Piqueira, J.R.C., Serboncini, F.A., Monteiro, L.H.A., 2006. Biological models: measuring variability with classical and quantum information. J. Theor. Biol. 242 (2), 309–313). Using three-trophic level systems as examples, we show how to model population data by expressing the system states with q-bits. The system time evolution is given by the state transition matrices which relate the states to successive time intervals. It is a complementary way of looking at the problem which is usually modeled with deterministic differential equations. This is possible because the dynamics of interacting populations in three-trophic level systems is a problem with several coupled variables and, consequently, complex dynamical behaviors seem to result. The non deterministic dynamics generated by the state transition matrices is supposed to model the biological system as a whole, with real data expressing even the global effects of small disturbances in the ecological parameters.     

Nitrogen controls on ecosystem carbon sequestration: a model implementation and application to Saskatchewan,Canada

A plant–soil nitrogen (N) cycling model was developed and incorporated into the Integrated BIosphere Simulator (IBIS) of Foley et al. [Foley, J.A., Prentice, I.C., Ramankutty, N., Levis, S., Pollard, D., Sitch, S., Haxeltine, A., 1996. An integrated biosphere model of land surface process, terrestrial carbon balance and vegetation dynamics. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 10, 603–628]. In the N-model, soil mineral N regulates ecosystem carbon (C) fluxes and ecosystem C:N ratios. Net primary productivity (NPP) is controlled by feedbacks from both leaf C:N and soil mineral N. Leaf C:N determines the foliar and canopy photosynthesis rates, while soil mineral N determines the N availability for plant growth and the efficiency of biomass construction. Nitrogen controls on the decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM) are implemented through N immobilization and mineralization separately. The model allows greater SOM mineralization at lower mineral N, and conversely, allows greater N immobilization at higher mineral N. The model's seasonal and inter-annual behaviours are demonstrated. A regional simulation for Saskatchewan, Canada, was performed for the period 1851–2000 at a 10 km × 10 km resolution. Simulated NPP was compared with high-resolution (1 km × 1 km) NPP estimated from remote sensing data using the boreal ecosystem productivity simulator (BEPS) [Liu, J., Chen, J.M., Cihlar, J., Park, W.M., 1997. A process-based boreal ecosystem productivity simulator using remote sensing inputs. Remote Sens. Environ. 44, 81–87]. The agreement between IBIS and BEPS, particularly in NPP spatial variation, was considerably improved when the N controls were introduced into IBIS.     

A new procedure to optimize the selection of groups in a classification tree: Applications for ecological data

Agglomerative cluster analyses encompass many techniques, which have been widely used in various fields of science. In biology, and specifically ecology, datasets are generally highly variable and may contain outliers, which increase the difficulty to identify the number of clusters. Here we present a new criterion to determine statistically the optimal level of partition in a classification tree. The criterion robustness is tested against perturbated data (outliers) using an observation or variable with values randomly generated. The technique, called Random Simulation Test (RST), is tested on (1) the well-known Iris dataset [Fisher, R.A., 1936. The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems. Ann. Eugenic. 7, 179–188], (2) simulated data with predetermined numbers of clusters following Milligan and Cooper [Milligan, G.W., Cooper, M.C., 1985. An examination of procedures for determining the number of clusters in a data set. Psychometrika 50, 159–179] and finally (3) is applied on real copepod communities data previously analyzed in Beaugrand et al. [Beaugrand, G., Ibanez, F., Lindley, J.A., Reid, P.C., 2002. Diversity of calanoid copepods in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas: species associations and biogeography. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 232, 179–195]. The technique is compared to several standard techniques. RST performed generally better than existing algorithms on simulated data and proved to be especially efficient with highly variable datasets.