How Microbes Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us
As we continue to live through a pandemic, all eyes are on microbes: an imperceptible and pervasive threat that hangs heavy on the air and clings to surfaces. But the reality of micro-organisms is far more diverse and life-sustaining than such a notion would have us believe (hence the title of this book). Not only are they omnipresent, but we are ......
Embark on an extraordinary journey into the hidden world of moss. Just like adventurers seeking the Big Five animals on an African safari, we invite you to discover the wonders of the microscopic Big Five organisms that dwell within the mosses on our roofs, walls and pavements. Let's go on a Moss Safari! On your journey into this miniature ......
Improving the Lives of the Creatures We Own, Eat and Use
You don't have to be an animal rights activist to take an interest in how we treat other creatures. All of us, with few exceptions, use animals in some way: for food, research, recreation and companionship. In Britain we eat around a billion chickens every year, while 60% of all mammals on Earth, by biomass, are now livestock. In 2020, ......
The Sounds, Colors and Movements of Birds, and Our Tools for Watching Them
Birding has become one of the world's most popular pastimes for good reason. The vibrant colors, aerial finesse, and vocal talents of birds draw us to nature, stimulate our admiration and pique our curiosity. We cannot help but have questions as we encounter these elegant creatures. How do iridescent feathers seemingly glow? What must a ......
This accessible guide gives you the tools to be confident in identifying and managing frequently encountered non-native invasive plants in Britain and Ireland. Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the biggest drivers of global biodiversity loss along with climate change and habitat fragmentation. If allowed to colonise unchecked, they can ......
Common Species of Pavements, Walls and Waste Ground
Have you ever wondered exactly what those 'weeds' are growing along the kerb or between the cracks in the pavement? Not the pampered plants of parks, front gardens and herbaceous borders, but simply those that exist everywhere and nowhere in particular: the true survivors, the botanical opportunists. In this handy guide, we introduce the most ......
This book showcases the natural history and landscape of the Fens, an area now responsible for a third of Britain's food production and worth over GBP3 billion to the economy every year. It describes the geology and geography across the Fenland Basin over the last 14,000 years, a period dominated by the flux of wetlands and movement of water. The ......
A Naturalist's Thoughts on Wildlife and Wild Places
What does it mean to be a part of-rather than apart from-nature? This book is about how we interact with wildlife and the ways in which this can make our lives richer and more fulfilling. But it also explores the conflicts and contradictions inevitable in a world that is now so completely dominated by our own species. Interest in wildlife and ......
From antiquity until today, trees and woods have inspired artists, writers and scientists; they have shaped cultures and reverberated through belief systems. Yet worldwide forest cover has declined dramatically over the last 1,000 years. Now, primeval forests are only to be found at a few sites unreachable by humans, and even then they are ......
