Publisher Description

Vertebrate pests cause considerable damage to environment, agriculture and biodiversity apart from transmitting diseases. The problem is more pronounced in tropical Asia and Africa with non-human primates, elephants, several species of ungulates, rodents, frugivorous and grainivorous birds causing agricultural losses. In Europe and America the damage is due to carnivore predation on livestock, bird damage in cereal crops and rodent problem in urban and agricultural situations. Although there are several excellent books on rodent pest management both in India and at global level, there is a conspicuous lacuna of published books on vertebrate pest management. Even the few publications on the subject mostly deal with birds, rodents, bears, rabbits, foxes, etc because they are written by Americans or Britishers. Because their emphasis is on the problem prevalent in their countries and evaluation of management options available to them. In contrast the problem in tropics especially in India is unique. Rodents of course, are the most destructive. But what rodents do over twelve months of year is matched by a few nights of devastating crop raids by elephants or week long foraging by monkeys. Sporadic and localized damage is inflicted by several species of birds, bats, wild boar, blue bull, bears, hares, peacock etc. The damage is sometimes so high, it is impossible for a subsistence farmer to accept stoically the loss of his entire food source over a couple of days and nights. However, his options are limited in view of conservations and protection status enjoyed by some of these animals. The problem is compounded by religious sentiments associated with a few of them. This book is an attempt to find an acceptable solution to the problem of crop losses of these less studied but economically important groups of vertebrate pests. Sincere efforts have gone into formulation of recommendations keeping in mind the biological needs of vertebrate pests, their conservation status and suffering of the poor farmer. Many a time the sympathies deservedly go to the speechless marauders of crops as it is man who has shrunk, degraded and destroyed their habitat, deprived them of their natural source of food. There are no choices for vertebrate pests but raid the crops in their range but we, humans have several to survive. The book is an attempt to understand this dilemma.

Our best-selling guide for almonds covers 120 different pest problems including diseases, insects and mites, nematodes, vertebrate pests, and weeds; including 10 new insect pests and diseases including anthracnose, Alternaria leaf blight, rust, tenlined June beetle, and leafhoppers. New in the second edition you'll find: An extensively revised chapter on vertebrate pest management which adds recommendations for control techniques where endangered species occur. A revised and expanded chapter on vegetation management including detailed information on cover crops. A revised section on navel orangeworm, emphasizing cultural control techniques instead of insecticides. A revised section on peach twig borer includes discussions of bloomtime sprays with Bacillus thuringiensis and pheromone mating disruption. Revised and updated tables on susceptibility of rootstocks and scion cultivars to major pests and a detailed index. This indispensable reference is illustrated with 259 photos, including 33 new color photos, along with 69 line drawings and tables.

How do we decide whether a particular vertebrate species can be classified as a pest? What is achieved by control of such pests? This 1994 book describes the application of statistics, economics and mathematical modelling to the control of bird and mammal pests.

This book enhances our understanding of biological control, integrating historical analysis, theoretical models and case studies in an ecological framework.

The book describes the natural history of myxoma virus in American rabbits and the history of its introduction into European rabbits at length. The changes in rabbit and virus over the last 40 years provide the classical example of coevolution of a virus and its vertebrate host and a paradigmatic model for the understanding of an emerging infectious disease. Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus has been spreading in Australia for only three years, but in some areas has been very effective. Written by leading world experts in animal virology and the history of medicine.