A new German regional atlas, the Atlas der Säugetiere Nordrhein-Westfalens has recently been published on-line. This covers 86 species of mammals (including humans) occuring in the Land at a resolution of 5 x 5 km. The atlas maps are interactive, so that clicking on a square will display the underlying biological record.

 

 

A new book Behaviour and Management of European Ungulates, edited by Rory Putman and Marco Apollonio has recently been published. It contains the following chapters, contributed by recognised experts in the field: 

1. Behaviour and management of European ungulates, Rory Putman and Marco Apollonio.
2. Valuing ungulates in Europe, Sándor Csányi, Juan Carranza, Boštjan Pokorny, Rory Putman and Mark Ryan.
3. Reintroductions as a management tool for European ungulates, Massimo Scandura, Marco Apollonio and Nikica Šprem.
4. Introducing aliens: problems associated with invasive exotics, Francesco Ferretti and Sandro Lovari.
5. Competition between domestic and wild ungulates, Roberta Chirichella, Marco Apollonio and Rory Putman.
6. Effects of selective harvesting on ungulate populations, Atle Mysterud.
7. The management of urban populations of ungulates, Rory Putman, Jochen Langbein, Peter Watson,Peter Green and Seán Cahill.
8. The management of ungulates in protected areas, Stefano Grignolio, Marco Heurich, Nikica Šprem and Marco Apollonio.
9. Challenges in the management of cross-border populations of ungulates, Carlos Fonseca, Rita Torres,João P.V. Santos, José Vingada and Marco Apollonio.
10. Novel management methods: immunocontraception and other fertility control tools, Giovanna Massei,Dave Cowan and Douglas Eckery.
11. Welfare issues in the management of wild ungulates, Frauke Ohl and Rory Putman.
12. Management of ungulates in the 21st century: how far have we come?, Naomi Sykes and Rory Putman.

The book is published by Whittles Publishing and can be ordered here.

Bechstein's bat, cover imageA new monograph on the ecology of Bechstein's bat in Luxembourg has just been published in the first volume of Ökologie der Säugetiere to be produced entirely in the English language.

The monograph summarises an exceptionally detailed study into the ecology of this otherwise rather poorly known species across 22 woodlands in Luxembourg. Using mist-netting and radiotracking, bats were followed to their daytime roosts, the majority of which were in woodpecker holes. Being able to locate such a large number of roosts allowed the authors, Markus Dietz and Jaques Pir, to gather detailled information about the ecological needs of this bat and to make recommendations about appropriate forest management practices for this  Natura 2000 species.

A wealth of detailed information is provided in a very readable way with many colour photographs and some very attractive drawings of the bats.