{"title":"Series: Organisms and Environments","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"cane-toad-wars-by-rick-shine-9780520295100","title":"Cane Toad Wars","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1935, an Australian government agency imported 101 specimens of the Central and South American Cane Toad in an attempt to manage insects that were decimating sugar-cane harvests. In Australia, the Cane Toad adapted and evolved with abandon, voraciously consuming native wildlife and killing predators with its lethal skin toxin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eToday, hundreds of millions of Cane Toads have spread across the northern part of Australia and continue to move westward. The humble Cane Toad has become a national villain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eCane Toad Wars\u003c\/i\u003e chronicles the work of intrepid scientist Rick Shine, who has been documenting the toad’s ecological impact in Australia and seeking to buffer it. Despite predictions of devastation in the wake of advancing toad hordes, the author’s research reveals a more complex and nuanced story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA firsthand account of a perplexing ecological problem and an important exploration of how we measure evolutionary change and ecological resilience, this book makes an effective case for the value of long-term natural history research in informing conservation practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46854199378156,"sku":"9780520295100","price":66.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6171333482373.jpg?v=1759237113"},{"product_id":"serendipity-by-james-a-estes-9780520377493","title":"Serendipity","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"Many of the findings in the book . . . are classics of ecology. . . . A rare and delightful insight into timely science.\" — Jane Lubchenco, \u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003e\"Estes's refreshing narrative deftly weaves rigorous science with personal reflection to create an absorbing and introspective read that is equal parts memoir, ecological textbook, and motivational guidebook for young ecologists.\" — \u003ci\u003eScience\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTo newly minted biologist James Estes, the sea otters he was studying in the leafy kelp forests off the coast of Alaska appeared to have an unbalanced relationship with their greater environment. Gorging themselves on the sea urchins that grazed among the kelp, these small charismatic mammals seemed to give little back in return. But as Estes dug deeper, he unearthed a far more complex relationship between the otter and its underwater environment, discovering that otters play a critical role in driving positive ecosystem dynamics. While teasing out the connective threads, he began to question our assumptions about ecological relationships. These questions would ultimately inspire a lifelong quest to better understand the surprising complexity of our natural world and the unexpected ways we discover it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSerendipity\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of James Estes’s life as a naturalist and the concepts that have driven his interest in researching the ecological role of top-level predators. Using the relationships between sea otters, kelp, and sea urchins as a touchstone, Estes retraces his investigations of numerous other species, ecosystems, and ecological processes in an attempt to discover why ecologists can learn so many details about the systems in which they work and yet understand so little about the broader processes that influence these systems. Part memoir, part natural history, and deeply inquisitive, \u003ci\u003eSerendipity\u003c\/i\u003e will entertain and inform readers as it raises thoughtful questions about our relationship with the natural world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46854826885356,"sku":"9780520377493","price":47.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/7fba1569db466eb0ec3806b127120636.jpg?v=1759264314"},{"product_id":"a-sea-of-glass-by-drew-harvell-9780520303577","title":"A Sea of Glass","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"The author makes an eloquent plea for marine biodiversity conservation.\"—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Harvell seems to channel the devotion that motivated the Blaschkas.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2016 National Outdoor Book Award, Environment Category\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt started with a glass octopus. Dusty, broken, and all but forgotten, it caught Drew Harvell’s eye. Fashioned in intricate detail by the father-son glassmaking team of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, the octopus belonged to a menagerie of unusual marine creatures that had been packed away for decades in a storage unit. More than 150 years earlier, the Blaschkas had been captivated by marine invertebrates and spun their likenesses into glass, documenting the life of oceans untouched by climate change and human impacts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by the Blaschkas’ uncanny replicas, Harvell set out in search of their living counterparts. In \u003ci\u003eA Sea of Glass\u003c\/i\u003e, she recounts this journey of a lifetime, taking readers along as she dives beneath the ocean's surface to a rarely seen world, revealing the surprising and unusual biology of some of the most ancient animals on the tree of life. On the way, we glimpse a century of change in our ocean ecosystems and learn which of the living matches for the Blaschkas’ creations are, indeed, as fragile as glass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrew Harvell and the Blaschka menagerie are the subjects of the documentary \u003ci\u003eFragile Legacy\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the Best Short Film award at the 2015 Blue Ocean Film Festival \u0026amp; Conservation Summit. Learn more about the film and check out the trailer here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072128172268,"sku":"9780520303577","price":47.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6256103482373.jpg?v=1765079607"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/series-organisms-and-environments.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}