The Biology and Conservation of Animal Populations

John A Vucetich
Johns Hopkins University Press, £62.00

John Vucetich brings more than 20 years of teaching into this seminal guide to the conservation of animal populations. The subject matter is foundational to much of ecology and the management of animal populations for food, pleasure and conservation.

Vucetich is not afraid to delve into the maths that underlies our understanding of how animal populations vary in space and time, and what factors control that variation. As he gently walks us through the development of the theory, helpful resource matter is provided at the end of the book and in online material to enable those who want to delve more deeply into the subject to do so at their leisure.

The author also provides a breadth of examples from experiments, through zoos and the wild, to ground the theory in the real world. I particularly liked the fact that his heart is in the management of predators, his main study being the American wolf, and he uses his own material well to highlight aspects of, for example, predator-prey dynamics. This book is a pleasure to read, and while The Biology and Conservation of Animal Populations is aimed at the undergraduate market, it is a great refresher for old timers like me.

Professor Iain Gordon FRSB

Reviewed by Professor Iain Gordon FRSB, Honorary Professor at the Fenner School of Environment & Society, The Australian National University