Description
Book SynopsisSmall Carnivores: Evolution, Ecology, Behaviour, and Conservation This book focuses on the 232 species of the mammalian Order Carnivora with an average body mass < 21.5 kg. Small carnivores inhabit virtually all of the Earth''s ecosystems, adopting terrestrial, semi-fossorial, (semi-)arboreal or (semi-)aquatic lifestyles. They occupy multiple trophic levels and therefore play important roles in the regulation of ecosystems, such as natural pest control, seed dispersal and nutrient cycling. In areas where humans have extirpated large carnivores, small carnivores may become the dominant predators, which may increase their abundance (mesopredator release) to the point that they can sometimes destabilize communities, drive local extirpations and reduce overall biodiversity. On the other hand, one third of the world''s small carnivores are threatened or near threatened with extinction. This results from regionally burgeoning human populations'' industrial and agricultural activit
Table of Contents
Foreword
Reviewing process and reviewers
List of contributors
Part I: Introduction
Chapter 1 The World’s Small Carnivores Definitions, Richness, Distribution, Conservation Status, Ecological Roles, and Research Efforts
Part II: Evolution, Systematics and Distribution
Chapter 2 Molecular Systematics of the Caniform Carnivora and its Implications for Conservation
Chapter 3 Systematics and Evolution of the Mongooses (Herpestidae, Carnivora)
Chapter 4 Late Quaternary Biogeography of Small Carnivores in Europe
Chapter 5 Ecomorphological Disparity of Small Carnivore Guilds
Chapter 6 Beyond Black and White
Addressing Colour Variation in the Context of Local Environmental Conditions for the Aposematic American Hog-nosed Skunk
Part III: Ecology, Behaviour, and Diseases
Chaper 7 The function of Carnivore Latrines: Review, Case Studies, and a Research Framework for Hypothesis- Testing
Chaper 8 Factors Affecting European Badger Movement Lengths and Propensity: Evidence of Density-Dependent Effects?
Chapter 9 Behavioural Adaptations of Molina’s Hog-Nosed Skunk to the Conversion of Natural Grasslands into Croplands in the Argentine Pampas
Chapter 10 Activity and Movement Patterns of Urban Stone Martens
Chapter 11 A 9-Year Demographic and Health Survey of a European Mink Population in Navarre (Spain): Role of the Canine Distemper Virus
Chapter 12 Density of African Civets in a Moist Mountain Bushveld Region of South Africa
Part IV: Interspecific Interactions and Community Ecology
Chapter 13 Spatio-Temporal Overlap Between a Native and an Exotic Carnivore in Madagascar: Evidence of Spatial Exclusion
Chapter 14 Colonization of Agricultural Landscapes by the Pine Marten: Influence of Habitat Constraints and Interspecific Competition
Chapter 15 Spatial and Temporal Resource Partitioning of Small Carnivores in the African Rainforest: Implications for Conservation and Management
Chapter 16 Ecological Separation and Coexistence in a Carnivore Community in North-Central Thailand
Chapter 17 Interactions Between Honey Badgers and Other Predators in the Southern Kalahari: Intraguild Predation and Facilitation
Chapter 18 Seed Dispersal by Mesocarnivores Importance and Functional Uniqueness in a Changing World
Chapter 19 Ecology and Conservation of Southeast Asian Civets (Viverridae) and Mongooses (Herpestidae)
Part V: Interactions with People and Conservation
Chapter 20 Small Carnivore Introductions Ecological and Biological Correlates of Success
Chapter 21 Global Review of the Effects of Small Carnivores on Threatened Species
Chapter 22 The Global Consumptive Use of Small Carnivores Social, Cultural, Religious, Economic, and Subsistence Trends from Prehistoric to Modern Times
Chapter 23 Conservation Status of the North American River Otter in the United States and Canada Assessing Management Practices and Public Perceptions of the Species
Index
