Table Of Content

Bookreviews sphere. The floraalso is described as being ‘an evolutionary pump’. Human use ofthe OCEANSHORESTODESERTDUNES area is described and. importantly, so are TheNativeVh,rationokNewSouthWaies the effects of climate change. aniinilACT Significantly, the area covered by snow is predicted to shrink over the next thirty yearsby 18-66percent! Part 111 comprises compilation maps of the nativevegetation ofNSW. Thesedetail existing vegetation and reconstructed vegetation. There are three appendices. One provides estimates of present-day area of vegetation classes in NSW and the ACT and per cent cleared since settlement. Another lists endangered ecological com- munities and their inferred relationships to the vegetation classes, and the third lists the changes to vegetation class and forma- tion names between version 1.1 ofthe veg- NSW etation classification of and version 2.1 (thisbook). Ocean Shores to Desert Dunes is ideal, not only for the student ofvegetation for- mations but also for someone with no knowledge ofvegetation classification. In Maria Gibson fact, ifthis book was provided to a person SchoolofLifePalnadntEEnvciorloongmyenRtesaelaSrccihenUcneist with no interest in vegetation, they would DcakinUniversity becomeaconvert. 221 BurwoodHighway Burwood,Victoria Albatross: elusive mariners ofthe Southern Ocean by Aleks Terauds and illustrated by Fiona Stewart Publisher: CS1ROPublishing, 2006. 176pages,paperback; colourphotographs. ISBN1877069264. RRP$39.95 Albatross is a fine work that focuses on three scattered around Tasmania and the five species of Albatross that breed at fourth, Macquarie Island, well to the south Australian sites in the Southern Ocean. and approximately halfway to the The book is lavishly illustrated with stun- Antarctic continent. A chapter document- ning photographs of some of the largest ing the catastrophic impact that humans flying birds on earth. Scattered throughout have had on the marine mammals and one also finds imagesofthe remote sitesat birds in Bass Strait and the Southern which they breed and the other mostly Ocean follows. Here we learn that 18"' and marinespeciesthatsharethese islands. 19,h century industries, focused on the The book consists offive easy-lo-read recoveryofoil. furand feathers,decimated chapters. The reader is first provided with marine vertebrate populations. In a climate an overview ofthe four breeding sites, ofeconomic greed and fierce competition 184 The Victorian Naturalist Bookreviews accessible whale, seal, penguin and albatross populationsweretakentothe brink of extinction. Some, such as Elephant seals and Australian Sea Lions in Bass Strait, were pushed over the edge. Following the collapse ofthese land-based industries, feral animals impacted on returning fauna, especially the smaller seabirds. With the development oflong-line fishing in the late 1950s a new threat for the larger seabirds, includingthe albatross, appeared. Although much has been done to mitigate the impact ofthese fisheries we learn that it is these activities that now pose the greatest threat to our albatross. Reflecting Aleks Terauds’ passion for albatross, this conservation message extends well beyond this chapter and isthecentral themeofthebook. A third chapter provides an overview of each of the five species treated here: Wandering, Shy, Black-browed, Grey- headed and Light-mantled Sooty Albatross. From tips on identifying these species at sea to detailed accounts of life history, population trends and feeding habitats, the reader is provided with a very ocean, and it is here that they are truly thorough understanding oftheir ecology. masters of their environment, a wider Thebookconcludeswith two shorterchap- selection ofphotographs showing birds at ters; one providing a synopsis of the seawould havealsobeenwelcomed. Australian conservation efforts, the other These are, however, minor criticisms providing insights into the challenges and reflecting personal taste and do not detract joys of living and working on the island from what is a beautifully illustrated and breedingsites. well-researched book. Aleks Terauds and Although upfront in statingthatthis book Fiona Stewart are to be commended for covers albatross that breed in Australia, a providing a window into the lives ofalba- briefforay into those species that occur in tross, a glimpse at the wild places on Australian waters as non-breeding visitors which they nest, and forbringingtheplight would havebeen welcome. Attimes sever- ofthese magnificent birds to the attention al such species (e.g. Yellow-nosed ofall. This work is recommended to any- Albatross and Bullers Albatross) are a onewithan interest in natural history, con- major component ofthe albatross fauna in servation ormarineenvironments. near coastal waters of southern Australia yet these receive no mention. Indeed, tak- Rohan Clarke LandscapeEcologyResearchGroup ing this a step further, a short chapter on SchoolofLifeandEnvironmentalSciences the albatross of the world would have 221 BurwoodHighway helped setthecontextforthosespecies that Burwood,Victoria DeakinUniversity breedinAustralia. Reflecting the author's experiences almostofall ofthephotographsweretaken on the nesting grounds. Given that albatross spend most oftheir lives in the open Vol. 123 (2) 2006 185