best books on ecology

YYou have been a scientist and conservationist for many years, and now the author of a new book on snow leopards, drawn from your 20 years of study in some of the most remote areas of the world. What do you think a good book about ecology should do?

I believe that a good book about ecology should make the reader curious about nature and instill in them a desire to get out and connect with nature in whatever way possible. While readers learn new things about nature, they should also be emotionally involved and feel that they are not separate from what is being discussed in the book but are an integral part of it.

How do you balance science with storytelling in your work?

Science does not happen in isolation. The process of doing science has a rich background of thought-provoking stories. Integrating science into these stories also helps ground the work and make it more human. Balance really depends on the style of writing. If the science is esoteric I like to balance it with deeper stories. If science is entertaining I try humor.

Your first book recommendation is Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relationships By the eminent field biologist George Schaller, published in 1972. It won the National Book Award in the United States the following year. Would you like to introduce it to our readers?

serengeti lion It was the first book that showed how we could study large wild animals in their natural habitat. The book had a unique appeal to both professionals and amateurs. Now, more than 50 years after its publication, it still remains a very accessible book for people interested in learning about the scientific study of wildlife.

The author, George Schaller, has written many books on a variety of environments from the rainforests of Rwanda to the Tibetan Plateau, but this book is one of the best examples of the early years of wildlife biology.

Yes, I am familiar with Scholar. He is a major player in Peter Matthiessen’s classic travel book snow Leopard; He is quoted in Dian Fossey gorilla in the mist Because before reaching there he had studied the Virunga mountain gorillas. On the one hand, he is the subject of a new biography, Homesick for an unknown world By Mirian Horn.

Schaller was a pioneer who demonstrated how we could study wildlife in their natural habitats and yet go beyond the descriptions to actually quantify their ecology, behavior and deploy this knowledge to advance their conservation. But he didn’t stop at just doing scientific studies, he wrote a book about each of his research projects and made that work accessible to the world.

Before Schaller, only hunters had tried to meet species like gorillas and lions in their natural habitat. He was the first person who stepped into these places without a gun. He came in with just a notebook, pen, a pair of binoculars and a camera. He stayed in the field for long periods of time, often several months at a time and several years for a single study. Sometimes he would take his entire family to his fields and they would all live there. In more ways than one he opened the way for many biologists who followed him.

Next you chose to recommend eastern snowy owl By American conservationist Jonathan Slaught, about his work with Blakiston fish owls in the far-eastern reaches of Russia. I remember it made quite an impact on releases in 2020.

Owls are present in almost every habitat around the world. They are also popular in art and culture. But apart from the barn owl and one or two other species, we know very little about them. Jonathan Slaght uses his excellent writing skills to shed light on a very remote part of the world, the Far East of Russia, and an almost unknown species, the Blakiston fish owl, one of the largest species of owls in the world.

Thanks to this book, I know more about this far-flung species of owl than some of the other owls I find in my backyard.

Ecologists appear to be unusually talented at literary work among scientists. would you agree? Do you think there’s something inherently romantic about the pursuit of science that presents itself so well on the page?

I think that among environmentalists, those interested in literature have easier access to interesting material through his work. They provide access to travel, diverse cultures, diverse nature and adventure, all essential ingredients for a good story. They also live a life which is very attractive to many but very few actually live it and hence they have a ready readership. So, yes, there is a romance to the study of ecology that is unmatched in most other sciences.

dodo song Your Next Choice, by David Quammen, has appeared many times on our site. Biologist Sean B. Carroll described it as “a great blend of rich history and contemporary science”. Tell us more.

If I had to choose just one book, this would be Dodo’s song. It blends great writing with one of the greatest ecological theories of our time. Theory of ‘Island Biology’And it has been deployed to draw attention to one of the greatest challenges of our time, the sixth mass extinction.

It makes you love literature, then teaches you about science and then asks the reader to take up arms to stop this coming tragedy.

This leads us well No Way Home: The Collapse of the World’s Great Animal Migration By David Wilkov. I believe that it, like the Quammen book, is encouraging us to think about the interdependence of species and ecosystems. What is his logic?

This work draws our attention to the amazing natural phenomenon of animal migration. We have all been amazed by the spectacular footage of wild animal migration across the grasslands of Africa. But equally incredible migrations also occur by many other species, including butterflies, birds, turtles and mammals.

This book highlights some of the most remarkable animal migrations that still exist on our planet. This migration will lead to the extinction of those species before they disappear. I hope we will be able to save many of these species, but will we be able to prevent these migratory behaviors from becoming extinct? I’m not so sure.

To save these migrations we need to protect huge areas of land and water bodies which is becoming difficult in a rapidly changing world.

And finally, I guess this brings us to The Great Spirit of Siberia: In Search of the Elusive Siberian Tiger By Sooyoung Park. Why do you recommend it?

I find the Siberian tiger to be the biggest mystery after the snow leopard. The extremely difficult landscape and rarity of the cat make it very difficult to enter the world of this majestic cat. The author demonstrates the patience and perseverance required to study this species. He is a symbol of the wonderful world of the tiger.

This book also reminds of the time when the researcher entered the world of the tiger without relying on the modern technology of genetics and camera traps. Through writing we learn more about the natural history skill of reading pug signs to understand what the tiger is doing. It shows that the old school romance of natural history is still around and healthy.

I love that—old school romance. The blurb describes the book as the result of the park’s “obsession” with tigers. Actually, this is a framing we often see in ecology books, and I think it can be applied to your own book and work as well. Is this how it feels inside? A scientific survey or study that is also an expression of a fixation or monomania?

Determination? Yes. Monomania? No.

I think these types of research projects won’t happen without some improvements. They are difficult, come at great personal cost and the rewards are not significant. We often only see the tip of the iceberg; A lot of costs have to be paid upfront and risks taken.

Sometimes the risks pay off, but most of the time not. So in some respects there is a lot of similarity between explorers, mountaineers and ecologists.