Northeastern Naturalist Noteworthy Books 2014 Vol. 21, No. 3 B8 The Sea, Volume 16: Marine Ecosystem- Based Management. Michael J. Fogarty and James J. McCarthy (Eds.). 2014. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. 568 pp. $175.00, hardcover. ISBN 9780674072701. With marine ecosystems endangered by a warming climate and exploding human population growth, a critical transformation is taking place in the way the world’s ocean resources are managed. Marine Ecosystem-Based Management presents a state-of-the-art synopsis of the conservation approaches that are currently being translated from theory to action on a global scale. With contributions from an international team of experts, this volume synthesizes the scientific literature of holistic practices in ecosystem-based management (EBM), focusing on protecting the marine ecologies that humans and countless other organisms vitally depend upon. Human uses of ocean ecosystems have usually been divided into separate sectors—fisheries, transportation, tourism, and recreation, for example— and ecosystem boundaries defined as much by politics as geography. This approach is giving way to a broader strategy based on integrated management of human activities in scientifically identified regions of the marine environment. Spanning a range of issues from the tropics to the poles, the authors present analyses of open ocean systems and high-impact regions such as coastlines, coral reefs, and estuaries. Methods of modeling and evaluating marine EBM are explored, as well as the role of governmental and other regulatory frameworks in ocean management and the lessons to be learned from past ecological interventions. It is now widely recognized that any viable strategy for sustaining the world’s oceans must reflect the relationships among all ecosystem components, human and nonhuman species included. Marine Ecosystem- Based Management is an in-depth report of new advances in the rapidly evolving discipline of coupled human–ecological systems. Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide. Gene Helfman and George H. Burgess. 2014. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 288 pp. $26.95, softcover. ISBN 9781421413099. Answering every conceivable question about sharks, Gene Helfman and George H. Burgess describe the fascinating biology, behavior, diversity (there are more than 1000 species worldwide), and cultural importance of sharks, their close relationship to skates and rays, and their critical role in healthy ecosystems. The authors take readers on a round-the-world tour of shark habitats, which include oceans as well as lakes and even rivers (as far up the Mississippi as St. Louis). They describe huge, ferocious predators like (Great) White and Tiger sharks and species such as Basking and Whale sharks that feed on microscopic prey yet can grow to lengths of more than 40 feet. The mysterious and powerful Greenland Shark, the authors explain, reaches a weight of 2200 pounds on a diet of seal flesh. Small (less than 2-foot long) Cookiecutter Sharks attack other sharks and even take a chunk out of the occasional swimmer. Despite our natural fascination with sharks, we have become their worst enemy. Many shark species are in serious decline and a number are threatened with extinction as a result of overfishing and persecution. Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide presents a perfect mix of current science, history, anthropology, intriguing facts, and gripping photographs. Whether your fascination with sharks stems from fear or curiosity, your knowledge of these animals will improve immensely when you consult this book. The Kingdom of Rarities. Eric Dinerstein. 2013. Island Press, Washington, DC. 312 pp. $29.95, softcover. ISBN 9781610912075. When you look out your window, why are you so much more likely to see a Robin or a sparrow than a Kirtland’s Warbler or a California Condor? Why are some animals naturally rare and others so abundant? The quest to find and study seldomseen Jaguars and flamboyant Andean Cocks-ofthe- rock is as alluring to naturalists as it is vitally important to science. From the Himalayan slopes of Bhutan to the most isolated mountain ranges of New Guinea, The Kingdom of Rarities takes us to some of the least-traveled places on the planet to catch a glimpse of these unique animals and many others. As he shares stories of these species, Eric Dinerstein gives readers a deep appreciation of their ecological importance and the urgency of protecting all types of life—the uncommon and abundant alike. An eye-opening tour of the rare and exotic, The Kingdom of Rarities offers us a new understanding of the natural world, one that places rarity at the center of conservation biology. Looking at real-time threats to biodiversity, from climate change to habitat fragmentation, and drawing Noteworthy Books Received by the Northeastern Naturalist, Issue 21/3, 2014 Northeastern Naturalist B9 Noteworthy Books 2014 Vol. 21, No. 3 on his long and distinguished scientific career, Dinerstein offers readers fresh insights into fascinating questions about the science of rarity and unforgettable experiences from the field. Rachel Carson and Her Sisters: Extraordinary Women Who Have Shaped America’s Environment. Robert K. Musil. 2014. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ. 328 pp. $26.95, hardcover. ISBN 9780813562421. In Rachel Carson and Her Sisters, Robert K. Musil redefines the achievements and legacy of environmental pioneer and scientist Rachel Carson, linking her work to a wide network of American women activists and writers and introducing her to a new, contemporary audience. Rachel Carson was the first American to combine two longstanding, but separate strands of American environmentalism—the love of nature and a concern for human health. Widely known for her 1962 best-seller, Silent Spring, Carson is today often perceived as a solitary “great woman”, whose work single-handedly launched a modern environmental movement. But as Musil demonstrates, Carson’s life’s work drew upon and was supported by already existing movements, many led by women, in conservation and public health. On the fiftieth anniversary of her death, this book helps underscore Carson’s enduring environmental legacy and brings to life the achievements of women writers and advocates, such as Ellen Swallow Richards, Dr. Alice Hamilton, Terry Tempest Williams, Sandra Steingraber, Devra Davis, and Theo Colborn, all of whom overcame obstacles to build and lead the modern American environmental movement. Ecology: Third Edition. Michael L. Cain, William D. Bowman, and Sally D. Hacker. 2014. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA. 596 pp. $134.95, hardcover. ISBN 9780878939084. The new Third Edition of Ecology remains focused on the primary goal of this bestselling book: to be the best teaching tool possible for students taking their first course in ecology. Toward that end, the authors updated, replaced, or cut sections of the text as appropriate, and they added a new chapter on Behavioral Ecology, an exciting and growing subfield of ecology that always draws high levels of student interest. In addition, recognizing the importance of hands-on learning, each chapter now includes new “analyzing data” exercises in which students work with real data. These exercises enable students to increase their facility with essential skills such as performing calculations, making graphs, designing experiments, and interpreting results. The authors also revised and strengthened key pedagogical features of Ecology. The Social Lives of Forests. Susanna B. Hecht, Kathleen D. Morrison, and Christine Padoch (Eds.). 2014. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 512 pp. $50.00, hardcover. ISBN 9780226322667. Forests are in decline, and the threats these outposts of nature face—including deforestation, degradation, and fragmentation— are the result of human culture. Or are they? This volume calls these assumptions into question, revealing forests’ past, present, and future conditions to be the joint products of a host of natural and cultural forces. Moreover, in many cases the coalescence of these forces—from local ecologies to competing knowledge systems—has masked a significant contemporary trend of woodland resurgence, even in the forests of the tropics. Focusing on the history and current use of woodlands from India to the Amazon, The Social Lives of Forests attempts to build a coherent view of forests sited at the nexus of nature, culture, and development. With chapters covering the effects of human activities on succession patterns in now-protected Costa Rican forests; the intersection of gender and knowledge in African Shea Nut Tree markets; and even the unexpectedly rich urban woodlands of Chicago, this book explores forests as places of significant human action, with complex institutions, ecologies, and economies that have transformed these landscapes in the past and continue to shape them today. From rain forests to timber farms, the face of forests—how we define, understand, and maintain them—is changing. The Northeastern Naturalist welcomes submissions of review copies of books that publishers or authors would like to recommend to the journal’s readership and are relevant to the journal’s mission of publishing information about the natural history of the northeastern US. Accompanying short, descriptive summaries of the text are also welcome.