Research Notes Western Australian Herbarium

The book contains detailed descriptions of the unique desert environment with particular emphasis on vegetation and survival strategies of plants. Nine expeditions through the Southwest of Western Australia over a period of 15 years triggered the interest of the authors to explore also some deserts in the region, which leads to three further excursions into the sandy dunes of the desert. Observations of plant life in the deserts focused not only on identifying plants, but also on gaining some understanding of the aboriginal desert people of centuries past, and their own survival strategies in such extreme conditions. Also part of the Canning Stock Route was followed and explored, but the most rewarding and interesting finds were done criss-crossing the desert away from highways, tracks, and paths. The most remote areas showed species richness and surviving strategies which by far exceeded expectations.

Synthesis of the results of may years of research on Estuarine environments form the Murchison to Esperance, Western Australia.

This volume was developed to meet a much noted need for accessible case study material for courses in human ecology, cultural ecology, cultural geography, and other subjects increasingly offered to fulfill renewed student and faculty interest in environmental issues. The case studies, all taken from the journal Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Jouma~ represent a broad cross-section of contemporary research. It is tempting but inaccurate to sug gest that these represent the "Best of Human Ecology." They were selected from among many outstanding possibilities because they worked well with the organization of the book which, in turn, reflects the way in which courses in human ecology are often organized. This book provides a useful sample of case studies in the application of the perspective of human ecology to a wide variety of problems in dif ferent regions of the world. University courses in human ecology typically begin with basic concepts pertaining to energy flow, feeding relations, ma terial cycles, population dynamics, and ecosystem properties, and then take up illustrative case studies of human-environmental interactions. These are usually discussed either along the lines of distinctive strategies of food pro curement (such as foraging or pastoralism) or as adaptations to specific habitat types or biomes (such as the circumpolar regions or arid lands).

Uses of Acacia seeds in Central Australia.

This is a landmark study of the Holocene evolution and functioning of a suite of seasonal wetland basins in the temperate coastal zone of Western Australia, which were added to the the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance because of their setting, their method of formation and deepening, their history of infilling, their complex hydrological mechanisms, and their dynamic hydrochemical and vegetation responses.

Refecting what a new generation of conservation biologists is doing and thinking, this vital and far ranging second edition explores where conservation biology is heading. It challenges many conventions of conservation biology by exposing certain weaknesses of widely accepted principles. Combining contributions from both the school and the new breed of conservation biologists, this insightful text focuses primarily on topics the are integral to the daily activities of conservation biologists. Several chapters address ecosystem restoration and biotic invasions as well as the the mechanics of population viability analyses, which are now a routine facet of conservation efforts. A case history approach is implemented throughout the book, with the use of practical real-world examples. Furthermore, an in-depth look at quantitative analyses is presented, allowing for models and mathematical analyses to pinpoint limitations in existing data and guide research toward those aspects of biology that are most likely to be critical to the dynamics of a species or an ecosystem.