Published December 31, 2011
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Book Review
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Franko, Anja (2011): Book Review. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 162, DOI: 10.25656/01:11098, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.25656/01:11098
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- urn:lsid:plazi.org:pub:E275FFCE1C18AD27FFC4FFAAFFA1D070
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- Ecological and Behavioral Methods for the Study of Bats by T.H. Kunz & S. Parsons. 2nd Edition. 2009. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 901 pp. ISBN: 978-0801891472. £52.
- Since the first edition appeared in 1988, it is likely that no other bat book has been cited more often than Ecological and Behavioral Methods for the Study of Bats, which included 29 chapters from 35 authors, and was edited by the doyen of American bat biologists, Tom Kunz. This is perhaps not surprising in view of the fact that primary papers describing methods are often cited more than scientists' cherished blue skies discoveries! The book was also welltimed, coinciding with a steep increase in research on all aspects of bat biology.
- Bats are the second largest order of mammals with ca.1200 species, and in some countries, including the UK, they are the most important contributors to mammalian biodiversity. The ever increasing number of studies on these unique mammals now support an annual North American symposium, triennial international and European conferences as well as various ad-hoc international meetings. So there is an increasing number of masters and doctoral students (and their supervisors!) in the developed world requiring up-to-date information on methods and techniques. They will find it here, ranging from bench-top recipes to holistic overviews. The same applies to the developing world and here lies a problem. At a current online price of around £40, and the cost of shipping a two kilo package to countries where the postal system often requires the use of a courier, the book will be most difficult to obtain where it is most needed - in many parts of the developing world. One example will suffice. A few years ago Nepal emerged from a Maoist insurgency and as students acquired the freedom of movement they had so long been denied, there has been an explosion of interest in field work on bats but with few resources to guide them, they are desperate for 'how to do it' literature.