Search results for ""Author Ken Thompson""

How much do we really know about the species that make up the natural world? In this fascinating book Ken Thompson explains what we do and don’t understand about biodiversity. We know that most species remain undiscovered, and that biodiversity is gravely threatened – by overfishing, habitat loss, pollution and climate change. Life on Earth has previously experienced five episodes of mass extinction, and we are now in the middle of a sixth. Do We Need Pandas? surveys the Earth’s biodiversity, its origins and some of the threats it currently faces. It then asks how biodiversity loss will affect the human race. Will we even notice, and if we do, what will we notice? It asks what we should be doing to secure the survival not only of the species with which we share the planet, but of ourselves – and whether we need to be more concerned about ecosystems as a whole than about iconic species.

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Where do camels belong? In the Arab world may seem the obvious answer, but they are relative newcomers there. They evolved in North America, retain their greatest diversity in South America, and the only remaining wild dromedaries are in Australia. This is a classic example of the contradictions of 'native' and 'invasive' species, a hot issue right now, as the flip-side of biodiversity. We have all heard the horror stories of invasives, from Japanese knotweed that puts fear into the heart of gardeners to brown tree snakes that have taken over the island of Guam. But do we need to fear invaders? And indeed, can we control them, and do we choose the right targets? Ken Thompson puts forward a fascinating array of narratives to explore what he sees as the crucial question - why only a minority of introduced species succeed, and why so few of them go on to cause trouble. He discusses, too, whether our fears could be getting in the way of conserving biodiversity, and responding to the threat of climate change.

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We often imagine that rarity is special - we seek out the most uncommon wild plants to tick off our lists, while overlooking the extraordinary appeal of the species we encounter day-to-day. Yet it's these plants -the most successful, able to adapt and thrive - which are truly fascinating. Botanist, writer and expert gardener Ken Thompson has set out to chart Britain's fifty most abundant wild plants and reveal the secrets of their success. He explores the roots of their common names, from the dog rose to Yorkshire fog, and explains the key traits that have led them to flourish across Britain. And, along the way, he shares his tricks for making your garden a haven for green life. Stunningly illustrated by Sarah Abbott, Common or Garden is a celebration of the everyday wonder of the plants that you can see, as Thompson enthuses, 'before you even have lunch'

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What is the best way to kill weeds in paving? How scared should we really be of Japanese knotweed? And what is a weed anyway?Biologist Ken Thompson set out to write a different kind of gardening column, one that tackles what he calls 'the grit in the gardening oyster'. In this new collection he takes a look at some of the questions faced by gardeners everywhere in a bid to sort the truth from the wishful thinking.Why are the beaks of British great tits getting longer? Which common garden insect owns a set of metal-tipped running spikes? Why might growing orange petunias land you in hot water? Are foxes getting bigger? How do you stop the needles falling off your Christmas tree?This expert's miscellany of (mostly) scientifically-tested garden lore will make you look at your garden through fresh eyes.

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In 2003 a MORI poll for the Royal Horticultural Society revealed that an extraordinary number of us are interested in attracting wildlife into our gardens. It also indicated, however, that many of us have no idea how to go about it. Information is sparse, and public opinion seems to suggest that gardens that are plentiful in wildlife are unattractive, expensive to upkeep and hard work to maintain. But this couldn't be further from the truth.In this illuminating book, Ken Thompson explains that encouraging wildlife is actually entirely compatible with ordinary gardening, costs next to nothing and is almost completely effortless. Packed with helpful hints and tips, the book shows us how easy it is to fill our gardens with everything from foxes, frogs and mice to butterflies, ladybirds and literally thousands of fascinating creepy-crawlies. Why should we? Because we'll be promoting the biodiversity of the UK, we'll be reconnecting with nature, getting more from our gardens, and we'll be doing our plants a favour.

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Most of us think of Darwin at work on The Beagle, taking inspiration for his theory of evolution from his travels in the Galapagos. But Darwin published his Origin of Species nearly thirty years after his voyages and most of his labours in that time were focused on experimenting with and observing plants at his house in Kent. He was particularly interested in carnivorous and climbing plants, and in pollination and the evolution of flowers. Ken Thompson sees Darwin as a brilliant and revolutionary botanist, whose observations and theories were far ahead of his time - and are often only now being confirmed and extended by high-tech modern research. Like Darwin, he is fascinated and amazed by the powers of plants - particularly their Triffid-like aspects of movement, hunting and 'plant intelligence'. This is a much needed book that re-establishes Darwin as a pioneering botanist, whose close observations of plants were crucial to his theories of evolution.

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