{"title":"Extinction","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-last-butterflies-a-scientists-quest-to-save-a-rare-and-vanishing-creature","title":"The Last Butterflies: A Scientist's Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature","description":"\u003ch3\u003eby Nick Haddad\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA remarkable look at the rarest butterflies, how global changes threaten their existence, and how we can bring them back from near-extinction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMost of us have heard of such popular butterflies as the Monarch or Painted Lady. But what about the Fender’s Blue? Or the St. Francis’ Satyr? Because of their extreme rarity, these butterflies are not well-known, yet they are remarkable species with important lessons to teach us. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last Butterflies\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003espotlights the rarest of these creatures—some numbering no more than what can be held in one hand. Drawing from his own first-hand experiences, Nick Haddad explores the challenges of tracking these vanishing butterflies, why they are disappearing, and why they are worth saving. He also provides startling insights into the effects of human activity and environmental change on the planet’s biodiversity.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeaving a vivid and personal narrative with ideas from ecology and conservation, Haddad illustrates the race against time to reverse the decline of six butterfly species. Many scientists mistakenly assume we fully understand butterflies’ natural histories. Yet, as with the Large Blue in England, we too often know too little, and the conservation consequences are dire. Haddad argues that a hands-off approach is not effective and that in many instances, like for the Fender’s Blue and Bay Checkerspot, active and aggressive management is necessary. With deliberate conservation, rare butterflies can coexist with people, inhabit urban fringes, and, in the case of the St. Francis’ Satyr, even reside on bomb ranges and military land. Haddad shows that through the efforts to protect and restore butterflies, we might learn how to successfully confront conservation issues for all animals and plants.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA moving account of extinction, recovery, and hope, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last Butterflies\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003edemonstrates the great value of these beautiful insects to science, conservation, and people.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003eNick Haddad\u003c\/b\u003e is a professor and senior terrestrial ecologist in the Department of Integrative Biology and the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station at Michigan State University. He lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Haddad eloquently argues that conserving butterflies is not about preserving an organism or habitat in aspic—that way lies stagnation and decline—it’s about enabling a dynamic and resilient environment.\"—Richard Jones,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eBBC Wildlife Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A powerful study of what a declining insect population reveals about how we are treating the planet . . . . fine and compelling book.\"—Jules Pretty,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eTimes Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A thoroughly entertaining AND informative read - you can't put it down.\"—John Badmin,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eBritish Journal of Entomology and Natural History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wilderness Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57259275649406,"sku":"9780691165004","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0996\/4096\/7550\/files\/The_Last_Butterflies.jpg?v=1776384984"},{"product_id":"the-passenger-pigeon","title":"The Passenger Pigeon","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt the start of the nineteenth century, Passenger Pigeons were perhaps the most abundant birds on the planet, numbering literally in the billions. The flocks were so large and so dense that they blackened the skies, even blotting out the sun for days at a stretch. Yet by the end of the century, the most common bird in North America had vanished from the wild. In 1914, the last known representative of her species, Martha, died in a cage at the Cincinnati Zoo.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis stunningly illustrated book tells the astonishing story of North America’s Passenger Pigeon, a bird species that—like the Tyrannosaur, the Mammoth, and the Dodo—has become one of the great icons of extinction. Errol Fuller describes how these fast, agile, and handsomely plumaged birds were immortalised by the ornithologist and painter John James Audubon, and captured the imagination of writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain. He shows how widespread deforestation, the demand for cheap and plentiful pigeon meat, and the indiscriminate killing of Passenger Pigeons for sport led to their catastrophic decline. Fuller provides an evocative memorial to a bird species that was once so important to the ecology of North America, and reminds us of just how fragile the natural world can be.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished in the centennial year of Martha’s death, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Passenger Pigeon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e features rare archival images as well as haunting photos of live birds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wilderness Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58144858046846,"sku":"9780691162959","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0996\/4096\/7550\/files\/ThePassengerPigeon.jpg?v=1790963386"},{"product_id":"the-last-of-its-kind-the-search-for-the-great-auk-and-the-discovery-of-extinction","title":"The Last of Its Kind: The Search for the Great Auk and the Discovery of Extinction","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe great auk is one of the most tragic and documented examples of extinction. A flightless bird that bred primarily on the remote islands of the North Atlantic, the last of its kind was killed in Iceland in 1844. Gísli Pálsson draws on firsthand accounts from the Icelanders who hunted the last great auks to bring to life a bygone age of Victorian scientific exploration while offering vital insights into the extinction of species.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePálsson vividly recounts how British ornithologists John Wolley and Alfred Newton set out for Iceland to collect specimens only to discover that the great auks were already gone. At the time, the Victorian world viewed extinction as an impossibility or trivialised it as a natural phenomenon. Pálsson chronicles how Wolley and Newton documented the fate of the last birds through interviews with the men who killed them, and how the naturalists’ Icelandic journey opened their eyes to the disappearance of species as a subject of scientific concern—and as something that could be caused by humans.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBlending a richly evocative narrative with rare, unpublished material as well as insights from ornithology, anthropology, and Pálsson’s own North Atlantic travels, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last of Its Kind\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e reveals how the saga of the great auk opens a window onto the human causes of mass extinction.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wilderness Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58144874561918,"sku":"9780691231419","price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0996\/4096\/7550\/files\/TheLastofItsKind.jpg?v=1790963933"}],"url":"https:\/\/wildernessbooks.co.uk\/collections\/extinction.oembed","provider":"Wilderness Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}