Harvesting wild species : implications for biodiversity conservation /

The preface to this collection succinctly describes it as "the product of a three-year study undertaken by the World Wide Fund for Nature to explore the link between biodiversity conservation and the commercial consumptive use of wild species." The hefty volume contains 14 case studies and two review essays prepared by an international lineup of academicians, government managers, and nonprofit organization-based scientists. Specific study locales include India, Mexico, Malaysia, Switzerland, Amazonia, South Africa, Pakistan, and the US; among the life forms featured are individual species (Brazil nuts, the a,cai palm, striped bass, American alligators), species groups (waterfowl, wild goats, ungulates, salmon species), and whole forest systems. Focus is provided by targeting forms whose histories have included periods of overexploitation, but which are currently being successfully managed; and emphasizing in each case the socioeconomic and ecological forces that connect the commercial use of wild species to biological diversity conservation in general. There are numerous tables, charts and maps, chapter bibliographies (which unfortunately contain frequent misspellings), and a lengthy index. In all, a welcome addition to the rapidly growing literature on biodiversity conservation, but quite specialized. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. C. H. Smith; Western Kentucky University