When you look out your window, why are you so much more likely to see a robin or a sparrow than a Kirtland's warbler or a California condor? Why are some animals naturally rare and others so abundant? The quest to find and study seldom-seen jaguars and flamboyant Andean cocks-of-the-rock is as alluring to naturalists as it is vitally important to science. From the Himalayan slopes of Bhutan to the most isolated mountain ranges of New Guinea, The Kingdom of Rarities takes us to some of the least-traveled places on the planet to catch a glimpse of these unique animals and many others. As he shares stories of these species, Eric Dinerstein gives readers a deep appreciation of their ecological importance and the urgency of protecting all types of life - the uncommon and abundant alike. An eye-opening tour of the rare and exotic, The Kingdom of Rarities offers us a new understanding of the natural world, one that places rarity at the center of conservation biology. Looking at real-time threats to biodiversity, from climate change to habitat fragmentation, and drawing on his long and distinguished scientific career, Dinerstein offers readers fresh insights into fascinating questions about the science of rarity and unforgettable experiences from the field.
Autorentext
Eric Dinerstein is Lead Scientist and Vice President for Conservation Science at the World Wildlife Fund. His areas of specialty include tropical mammals, large mammal biology, biogeography, bats, rhinos, seed dispersal, and community ecology.
With the World Wildlife Fund, he has led many of the organization's most important scientific projects, including the Global 200 Ecoregions, examples of which form the basis of Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations. Dinerstein is also the author of The Return of the Unicorns: The Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros, among other articles and publications.
He attended Northwestern University and Western Washington University, and did his post-graduate studies at the University of Washington (Organization of Tropical Studies) and the National Zoological Park's Conservation and Research Center.
Klappentext
The Kingdom of Rarities presents a new context for understanding rarity and its implications both for our understanding of how the natural world works, and for what it can teach us about protecting biodiversity during a time of large-scale environmental change. Using cutting-edge science from remote outposts around the world, award-winning author Eric Dinerstein animates the key questions that scientists are asking themselves about why some species are so abundant and others not. What are the rarest species and why are they most likely to be found in certain types of environments? Which species have always been rare, and which have only recently been made rare? Which should we seek to protect most?
Throughout, Dinerstein explores rarity as a central principle within conservation biology, advancing both our understanding of the natural world and inspiring the creation of new tools and technologies that can help us add to our knowledge and design more effective conservation strategies. He focuses on real-time threats to biodiversity, from climate change to habitat fragmentation, and draws on his long and distinguished scientific career to illuminate the concept of rarity for readers across the spectrum of scientific knowledge.
Inhalt
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: The Uncommon Menagerie
Chapter 2: The Gift of Isolation
Chapter 3: A Jaguar on the Beach
Chapter 4: The Firebird Suite
Chapter 5: There in the Elephant Grass
Chapter 6: Scent of an Anteater
Chapter 7: Invasion and Resistance
Chapter 8: Ghosts of Indochina
Chapter 9: Rarity Made Common
Annotated Bibliography
About the Author
Index.