Customer Reviews

The Ecology, Exploitation and Conservation of River Turtles (Enviromental Science)

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of every individual with an investment or interest in freshwater turtle biology and conservation. "The Ecology, Exploitation, and Conservation of River Turtles" is a nice extension of the entry on the topic these authors contributed in Michael Klemens' "Turtle Conservation" (Smithsonian, 2000).

The outlay of the book is very functional, the many research references made are well-chosen, and the tone of the text intersperses encouragement for change and hope throughout. It must be noted that exploitation and conservation measures are much more heavily discussed than is ecology, which is even less uniform across the species covered than the former two aspects. Case studies do figure heavily in this book, which makes it somewhat biased towards species considered, but this can only be expected due to the paucity of literature on actual implementations (for direct river turtle exploitation and conservation).

The third chapter alone, which features major river turtle guilds of the world, is worth the purchase price in and of itself. The functional summarization-nature of this book, as with the previous title of paralleled nature noted above, will likely cause it to remain an important volume for decades to come.

One star was subtracted in this review to get your attention (the ole newspaper misprint trick). This book's delivery mandates its inclusion in the book list of every individual concerned with this topic.

Don Moll and Ed Moll's book has a welcome focus on freshwater turtles-the great majority, after all, of the world's turtle species live in freshwater-and is further focused on those species that inhabit the medium to large rivers where many of the world's most spectacular species and most diverse assemblages are found. Unfortunately, as this book makes all too clear, these species are among those most endangered, both by direct exploitation and by anthropogenic modification of their habitats. As the authors point out, the global decline in river turtle species is just as dire a situation as the much-ballyhooed global decline in amphibians, only in the case of turtles there is less uncertainty about the underlying causes. The brothers Moll bring extensive experience with river-dwelling turtle faunas to their effort. In addition to having both worked many years with turtles in the Midwestern United States, Don Moll has worked with sliders in Costa Rica and narrow-headed softshells in Thailand, while Ed Moll has been most active in his work with various Asian species, in particular the river terrapin, which figures prominently in this book. Some of their experiences form the basis for the "profiles" that begin each chapter, short entertaining vignettes on river turtle assemblages of the past and the present. The book begins with an introduction to the major riverine turtle assemblages of the world, a nice complement to past geographic reference works like John Iverson's 1992 book of range maps, in that turtle biologists now have a source to consult to quickly identify the species that co-occur in any of the major rivers of the world. A short chapter on exploitation of turtle populations in traditional societies is followed by a much lengthier chapter on current trends in exploitation of turtles for meat and other uses. Overexploitation of Asian, South American, and North American species is extensively covered, while information on African species is notably sparser, although perhaps not due to fault of the authors. The next chapter, on indirect threats to river turtles, focuses on alterations to rivers and their catchment basins that cause declines in native fauna, but also includes a short section on the role of exotic species in altering river turtle habitats. The book concludes with a thoughtful analysis of in situ and ex situ conservation techniques that are being applied to river turtles around the world. The authors describe a conservation philosophy that emphasizes the primacy of the former while still finding accessory roles for the latter. Overall, the book is an engaging and thoughtful look at the current conservation status of turtles in medium and large rivers, with much information not readily available in other sources. It is bound to be referenced frequently in coming years by workers in freshwater turtle ecology and conservation.