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Australia: Nature Page 1

Australia: Nature Page 1

ABC of Calf Rearing, The by Sharyn Munnerley. Published by Bloomings Books. ISBN 095790861X. Recommended retail price $31.95.

Sharyn Munnerley has succeeded where so many others have failed – she has made calf rearing simple.

As Professor James K. Drackley, of the University of Illinois’ Animal Sciences and Nutritional Sciences department says, ‘the information in the book provides a step-by-step guide and covers all topics necessary for the for the proper care and management of young calves, from what to look for when purchasing calves to the importance of colostrums, to topics on feeding, housing, health and management concerns.’

The ABC of Calf Rearing will help everyone engaged in rearing calves (from large scale operations of more than 1000 head to hobby farmers who just want to rear 5 or 6 calves) to raise their livestock successfully and profitable.

Sharyn Munnerley was nominated Victorian Rural Woman of the year in 2001 for the innovative work in her industry of calf rearing. Also in 2001 she was a Celebration of Ability Award finalist for her volunteerism in getting young people with disabilities into agricultural pursuits. Sharyn is a director of the Australian Calf Rearing Research Centre.

Soft cover, 167 pages. Published in 2003.

Australia: An Ecotraveller's Guide by Hannah Robinson. Published by Interlink Books. ISBN 1566564794. Recommended retail price $23.95.

This book shows ecotravellers how to discover the best experience in each destination, including the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland Wet Tropics, Kakadu, Tasmania, Ayers Rock, Sydney and the Blue Mountains. Hannah Robinson helps you understand the local woldlife and geology to find it all, from echidnas to emus, pademelons to platypuses, and much more. Soft cover, 219 pages. Published in 2003.

Click on thumbnail for photo of a cicada from Australian Cicadas (51.92K)

Click on thumbnail for photo of freshwater crocodile from Australian Crocodiles

Australian Fungi, Field Companion to by Bruce Fuhrer. Published by Bloomings Books. ISBN 1876473401. Recommended retail price $22.95.

Although fungi are included in the plant kingdom, they differ fundamentally from our usual idea of plants. They have been sadly neglected, partly because of their unusual form, but mainly because few books have presented an easy and interesting guide to their study.

Bruce Fuhrer is noted for his knowledge of natural history and his accomplished photography. In A Field Companion to Australian Fungi he has compiled a fascinating collection of photographs with informative text to enable the layperson to develop a knowledge of these fascinating plant forms. He gives information that allows for the identification of fungi, their natural habitats, whether the fungi are edible and much more.

The range of fungi is surprisingly vast, their colors and forms often beautiful. They truly represent an exciting part of nature to study, whether it be a serious study or simply the enjoyment of observing while bushwalking.

Bruce Fuhrer is a Senior Technical Officer with the departments of Botany and Zoology at Monash University, Victoria. Soft cover, 162 pages. Published in 2003.

This book provides an aid to the identification of both adult and nymph stages of Australian grasshoppers, using nothing more than a 10x hand lens. Technical terminology is kept to a minimum, as easy-to-understand diagrams illustrate the morphological structures necessary to make determinations.

The introduction provides details on grasshopper habits, biology, habitats, collecting, rearing, preserving as well as an illustrated key to major groups. The provided classification scheme will prove useful in arranging collections and understanding the relationships of species to one another. A bibliography lists all relevant literature references on Australian grasshoppers.

• Full color photographs of the grasshoppers in nature and characteristic structural features;
• Concise notes on habitats and related species, and a distribution map provides simple identification; and
• Appendices contain glossary, details on grasshopper photography and organizations one can contact for further study.

Hard back, 419 pages. Published in 2004.

Australian Insects; A Natural History by Bert Brunet. Published by New Holland Press. ISBN 1876334436. Recommended retail price $29.95.

Insects are survivors. Since their evolution in the Devonian, some 365 million years ago, they have penetrated almost every habitat on Earth. Today in Australia there are over 100,000 species crawling, flying, hopping and hurrying across the continent. Their responses to the challenges of this vast and often inhospitable land have been an array of clever adaptations. Every major insect group has found a way to live here successfully and some of the world's oldest lineages of insects continue to survive in Australia despite their extinction elsewhere. Australian Insects: A Natural History records the physical attributes and lifestyle developments that have made life on this continent possible for insects. It reveals worlds that we often glimpse at but rarely stop to consider.

If there is one thing that defines insects, it's endurance. Nowhere on Earth is this endurance this capacity to survive, better illustrated than in Australia.

Sixty million years ago, Australia began to break away from the great landmass of Gondwana. As it drifted north, it carried with it all the plants and animals that had developed there. Now an island continent, Australia became subject to very different conditions. Despite the rigors of a harsh landscape and an unpredictable climate, the insect cargo persisted, and in many remarkable cases, survived.

Today Australia has the oldest living crickets, lacedwings, beetles and ants, and the only silent cicadas in the world. While these ancestral forms have disappeared from other continents, they have hung on in Australia, maintaining their close associations with the native plants and animals, enduring and adapting through the millennia.

With an authoritative text, 300 superb full-color photographs and many detailed illustrations, Australian Insects: A Natural History turns the spotlight on the lives of these ingenious and magnificently adaptive animals. Hard cover, 288 pages. Published in 2000.

Click on thumbnail below for photo of a longhorn beetle from Australian Insects

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Last modified on Thursday, September 4, 2008