A unique collection of concise but detailed information on 10,000 animals, plants, fungi and algae of the British Isles. Every species with an English common name is included.

The compendium is in two parts. The first, smaller part, looks at various terms that people interested in natural history may come across. The second provides information on individual species or species groups, with entries on those with English (common) names, as well as selected families, orders, classes, etc. In the case of marine organisms, entries are given for intertidal and subtidal invertebrate species, and generally speaking for fish species that might be observed inshore. Indication is often given on distribution as well as whether a species is common, scarce or something in between. For some species a note is made of population size and trends. Comments are made where appropriate on etymology, both of the English name and the binomial.

No other natural history dictionary or cognate publication relating to the British Isles is as comprehensive in taxonomic cover.

About the Author

Peter Jarvis has an academic background in Geography and Environmental Science and was latterly an Honorary Research Fellow at Birmingham University. He was President of the Birmingham Natural History Society and has sat on the national committees of UK Man and the Biosphere (Urban Programme) and the Royal Society for Nature Conservation. His output includes refereed academic articles, wildlife journalism and several books, including Ecological principles and environmental issues (2000).

Reviews

I will use it a lot in future because I need a bit of information on lots of species and this will be a good place to start. And although it is fact-packed and I haven't found any jokes in the text so far, I have found myself reading the entry for one species or group of species and then the next, and the next and ...

-- Mark Avery

This is a book every UK household should have if we are to reclaim our island for all the creatures and plants that live here. This one's a keeper.

-- Fat Birder * Fatbirder.com *
Gives an excellent picture of biodiversity at the start of the twenty first century, and something to be used either as a reference book, or the perfect book to pick up and dip in and out. -- Patricia MacDuff * British Naturalists' Association *



Book Information
ISBN 9781784271947
Author Dr. Peter Jarvis
Format Hardback
Page Count 549
Imprint Pelagic Publishing
Publisher Pelagic Publishing
Weight(grams) 1100g