Frogs of Southern Africa: A Complete Guide remains the most authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the frogs of the region ever produced, covering all aspects of frog and tadpole biology and behaviour. This new edition (with a slight name change) has been thoroughly updated to reflect taxonomic changes based on the most recent research and DNA studies, and includes the discovery of seven new species. All 164 southern African frog species, and their tadpole stages, are fully described, along with their conservation status, calls, habitat and habits. Identification is made easy with the aid of large, full-colour images, keys to species and summary panels on ‘Key ID points’ and ‘Distinctive characters’. Calls for most species can be accessed instantly via QR codes in the book or downloaded from a dedicated website. Spectrograms of the calls are also included in the book. Written by respected authorities in the fi eld, this timely updated edition will be of benefit to all nature lovers, amateur ‘froggers’, students and professional scientists.

This Atlas and Red List details the outcomes of the Southern African Reptile Conservation Assessment (SARCA), the most thorough reptile assessment project ever conducted in Africa. The conservation status of the 422 recognised species and subspecies of reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland was evaluated against IUCN guidelines, based on detailed distribution maps, published literature and the collective expertise of leading herpetologists. This important publication includes, for the first time, colour photographs of all snakes, lizards, tortoises, terrapins, turtles and crocodiles of the region, as well as detailed maps illustrating their ranges.

South Africa's fynbos region has intrigued biologists for centuries. It has achieved iconic status as a locus of megadiversity and therefore a place to study the ecological underpinnings of massive evolutionary radiations. Researchers have made great advances over the past two decades in unravelling the complexities of fynbos ecology and evolution, and the region has contributed significant insights into the adaptive radiations of large lineages, conservation science, pollination biology, invasive plant biology, and palaeoanthropology. Lessons from the fynbos offer much of value for understanding the origin, maintenance, and conservation of diversity anywhere in the world. This book provides the first synthesis of the field for 20 years, bringing together the latest ecological and evolutionary research on the South African global biodiversity hotspots of the Greater Cape Floristic Region - the iconic fynbos and succulent karoo. It explores the historical and modern physical and biological environment of this region, the circumstances and processes which have fostered its remarkable biodiversity, and the role this diversity has played in the emergence of modern humans. It also discusses the challenges of contemporary management and conservation of the region's biodiversity in the face of accelerating global change.

A field guide to the wildlife of southern Africa, describing over 2,000 plants and animals, with accurate illustrations in full colour. This book has been a trusted fi eld companion for many years. Comprehensively updated, it now features range maps for most groups. The chapters are colour-coded for easy reference, and diagnostic features appear in bold type within the descriptions. Each chapter is written by a leading expert in the field. All the main plant and animal groups are covered: Lower invertebrates, Spiders and other arachnids, Insects, Freshwater fishes, Frogs, Reptiles, Birds, Mammals, Grasses, sedges, ferns and fungi, Wild flowers, Trees

The impact of invasive species is second only to that of human population growth and associated activities as a cause of the loss of biodiversity throughout the world. In the United States, invasions of nonnative plants, animals, or microbes cause major environmental damage. The second edition of Biological Invasions: Economic and Environmental Cos

Consisting of more than six thousand species, amphibians are more diverse than mammals and are found on every continent save Antarctica. Despite the abundance and diversity of these animals, many aspects of the biology of amphibians remain unstudied or misunderstood. The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians aims to fill this gap in the literature on this remarkable taxon. It is a celebration of the diversity of amphibian life and the ecological and behavioral adaptations that have made it a successful component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Synthesizing seventy years of research on amphibian biology, Kentwood D. Wells addresses all major areas of inquiry, including phylogeny, classification, and morphology; aspects of physiological ecology such as water and temperature relations, respiration, metabolism, and energetics; movements and orientation; communication and social behavior; reproduction and parental care; ecology and behavior of amphibian larvae and ecological aspects of metamorphosis; ecological impact of predation on amphibian populations and antipredator defenses; and aspects of amphibian community ecology. With an eye towards modern concerns, The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians concludes with a chapter devoted to amphibian conservation. An unprecedented scholarly contribution to amphibian biology, this book is eagerly anticipated among specialists.