The 100th volume of the prestigious New Naturalist series, written by one of Britain's best-known naturalists, explores the significance and history of woodlands on the British landscape 'Trees are wildlife just as deer or primroses are wildlife. Each species has its own agenda and its own interactions with human activities...' This 100th volume of the New Naturalist series presents a landmark in natural history publishing. Looking at such diverse...

The word 'aliens' can be used in many ways, to invoke fear, dislike and fascination. For biologists it is used to indicate organisms that have been introduced by people to new territories. In the British Isles alien plants are common, conspicuous, pestiferous, beautiful, edible - and can be both useful and harmful. Over the last fifty years, the study of alien plants has progressed from an eccentric hobby, enabling amateur botanists to increase the...

The Broads discusses the history of the Broads, the waters in the past and the waters now, the people who come into contact with and influence these waterways, and what the future holds for this small but important area of the countryside. This book gives a comprehensive account of the history of the Broads, an area of great interest to natural historians and tourists alike. Broadland is set mostly in Norfolk and partly in Suffolk. The peat deposits...

This illustrated survey of finch behavior is a thorough, non-technical account of the habits of these birds throughout the world. Greenfinches nest in plantations, large shrubby gardens and churchyards with lots of evergreens, thickets and tall hedges. After breeding, goldfinches forage on waste land, overgrown rubbish dumps, neglected allotments of food, and rough pastures. Bullfinches, in their breeding season, develop in the floor of their mouths...

This latest volume in the New Naturalist series provides a comprehensive study of wildlife conservation in Britain, concentrating on events in the last 30 years. As our environment is subjected to increasing assault from climatic changes and pollutants, conservation has become a growing concern for both specialists and generalists alike. The first chapter of this book considers the political and institutional development of nature conservation and...

Maps best viewed on a tablet. A definitive natural history of the Gower Peninsula, from its heritage coast and its appeal to the naturalist, to the geology, geomorphology, conservation and ecological history of this diverse area. Located to the south west of Swansea and often described as Wales in miniature, Gower Peninsula was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in May 1956. The area is unique in terms of the variety of the habitats...

About 30 miles south-west of Land's End is the low group of rocks and islands that form the Isles of Scilly. Mysterious, romantic and beautiful, they have long exercised the imagination of storytellers and historians. Rosemary Parslow has spent many years working on the islands, each of which has its own unique character and special plants and animals. In this New Naturalist volume, she examines the many aspects that make the islands and their flora...

Given the underlying topography, the scenery over most of Britain has been created largely by human activities. Over the centuries, landscapes have been continually modified as human needs and desires have changed. Each major change in land use has brought changes to the native plants and animals, continually altering the distribution and abundance of species. This is apparent from the changes in vegetation and animal populations that were documented...

Reviewing the history and causes of climatic change and evaluating regional models, this New Naturalist volume offers an important analysis of climatic variations. Much has happened in our knowledge of climate and weather over the past fifty years. The recording of relations between weather and natural history has continued to be of constant interest, with the weather providing a continual and essential back Drop to natural history accounts. But the...

Dartmoor explores the complex and fascinating history of one of southern England's greatest National Parks, an area of enormous interest to naturalists and tourists alike. The loneliest wilderness in England. This has been said more often of Dartmoor than any other part of our country. Traditionally in the world of fiction as well as that of fact, Dartmoor has been renowned as a vast empty moorland area, the property of nature rather than of man....