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Wetland birds provide us with some of nature's most wonderful sights, from vast flocks wheeling overhead to newly-hatched chicks drying in the sun. Apart from their beauty, recreational and economic importance, they are excellent indicators of water quality and measures of biodiversity. But how do they use wetland habitats, and how can we best conserve and maintain them for the future? Here, Milton Weller describes the ecology of wetland birds by identifying patterns of habitat use and typical bird communities that result from the use of resources such as food, cover and breeding sites. He integrates basic and practical information on bird/habitat relationships for researchers, landowners, managers and keen birders alike. As wetlands continue to decline, Wetland Birds: Habitat Resources and Conservation Implications will help us to understand the potential and limits of wetlands as bird habitats now and in the future.
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Wetlands: what, where and why
3. Major groups of birds that use wetlands
4. Water and other resource influences
5. Foods, feeding tactics, strategies and guilds
6. Bird mobility and wetland predictability
7. Other behavioral and physical influences on wetland living
8. Spatial and structural patterns
9. Habitat dynamics: water, succession and time
10. Population consequences of wetland abundance and quality
11. How birds influence wetlands
12. Conservation implications
13. Measures of bird habitat use and quality
14. Current status and some conservation problems
15. Conservation and management strategies
16. Outlook
Epilogue
Scientific names of birds mentioned in the text
Scientific names of animals other than birds mentioned in the text
Scientific names of plants mentioned in the text
Index
"Weller has published extensively on wetlands and waterbirds over the past 30-some years and is a recognized authority in the field [...] Numerous diagrams, tables, and black-and-white photographs clearly illustrated points in the text. Sections of additional reading and literature cited include both classic and current works. Appendixes list the scientific names of birds, other animals, and plants mentioned in the text. Recommended for all academic libraries. Undergraduates through professionals."
– Science & Technology
"Enjoyable [...] It is a book that is desirable for college libraries and for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students [...] essential for professionals in the wetland wildlife arena. Dr. Weller has provided us with many useful insights and syntheses based on a long and rewarding career spent often "in hip boots" rather than in front of a computer. His love of wetlands and their inhabitants comes through in this book, and he continues a leadership role in a world of field ecologists where fewer and fewer are really experiencing the wet and wild."
– Waterbirds
"Recommended for all academic libraries. Undergraduates through professionals."
– Choice
