Rodents in Desert Environments

About this book

Ever since Buxton published his Animal Life in Deserts in 1923, much individual, collective and organisational effort has gone into the unravelling of the mystique of desert living. Of all animal types, the roden would unquestionably be the most numerically heavy tenant of desert lands around the globe. A study of the biology of deserts would, therefore, be, in a large measure, a study of the most important component of the desert biomass, viz. the rodent fauna.

It is suprising, however, that with all the recent interest in desert biology so little effort has been expended so far in collating the available information on the biology of rodents in desert environments. There clearly seems to be acase for a proper assessment of the rodent's place in the desert ecosystem, hence this volume. For example, we ought to have quantitative information on the rodent's contribution to the maintenance and aggravation of desert conditions, its role as a pest of food grains, grasslands and other vegetation, and as a carrier of diseases, its relationship with its predator fauna, viz. birds, reptiles and small carnivores of the desert, and its susceptibility to chemical and biological control measures.

The editors hope that the present volume will provide sufficient background information to generate research interest in these applied aspects of desert rodent biology.

 

Contents

I. The Desert as a Habitat
II. The Ecology of Rodents in the northern Sudan
III. The Rodents of the Iranian Deserts
IV. Comparative Ecological Notes on Afghan Rodents
V. The Population Ecology of the Rodents of the Rajasthan Desert, India
VI. Outbreaks of Rodents in Semi-Arid and Arid Australia: Causes, Preventions, and Evolutionary Considerations
VII Observations of Argentine Desert Rodent Ecology, with Emphasis on Water Relations of Eligmodontia typus
VIII. La diversite des Gerbillides
IX. Some Observations on Ecological Adaptations of Desert Rodents and Suggestions for further Research work
X. The Behavior Patterns of Desert Rodents
XI Activity Patterns of a Desert Rodent
XII. Patterns of Food, Space and Diversity
XIII. Desert Coloration in Rodents
XIV. The Biology of some Desert-Dwelling Ground Squirrels
XV. Reproductive Biology of North American Desert Rodents
XVI. Rodent Faunas and Environmental Changes in the Pleistocene of Israel
XVII. Prehistoric Rodents of the Middle East
XVIII. Desert Rodents : Physiological Problems of Desert Life
XIX. Ecophysiology of Water and Energy in Desert Marsupials and Rodents
XX. Thermo-Regulation and Water Economy in Indian Desert Rodents
XXI. The Physiological Adaptations of Desert Rodents
XXII. Nematode Parasites of the Indian Desert Rodents
XXIII. Ecology of the Desert Rodents of the U.S.S.R. (Jerboas and Gerbils)

Author Index
Genus and Species Index

Customer Reviews