Now or never

Tim Flannery
"Now or never is an essential book about the most urgent issue of our time: climate change. In it, Tim Flannery begins by discussing the idea of sustainability and asks whether humanity can rise to the challenge. He brings to life the latest climate science and its implications. He discusses three potential climate-change solutions with particular reference to Australia."
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Blueprint for a safer planet

Nicholas Stern
"Focusing on the economic management of investment and growth from the perspective of both adaptation and mitigation, Stern confronts the most urgent questions facing us now: What is the problem? What are the dangers? What can be done to reduce emissions, at what cost? How can the world adapt?, and what does all this mean for corporations, governments and individuals."
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Ecological intelligence

Daniel Goldman
"In this new book Daniel Goldman shows that everything about what we buy and why is set to change. Ecological intelligence shows how the phenomenon of radical transparency - the availability of complete information about all aspects of a product's history - is about to transform the power of consumers and the fate of business."
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Island in a storm

Abby Sallenger

"Ultimately, Island in a storm is a cautionary environmental tale. Global warming is spreading the unique hazards of river deltas to coasts around the world, and the signs of what happened to Isle Derniere may soon be appearing on other islands. The account of this 19th century disaster and its aftermath offers a vital historical lesson as we continue to develop precarious coastal locations whose vulnerability will only grow as sea levels rise across the globe."

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The Coast of Australia

Andrew D Short & Colin D Woodroffe

"The Coasts of Australia provides the first comprehensive overview of the coastal systems that operate around the Australian coast, including beaches, dunes, estuaries, deltas, rocky coast and coral reefs. It provides insight into the operation of these systems and their distribution around the coast, including a representative range of examples. It also examines the impact of humans on the coast through a number of case studies. This book is fully illustrated with colour diagrams and numerous photographs. Written by two of Australias leading coastal scientists, Andrew Short and Colin Woodroffe, The Coasts of Australia is essential reading for anyone interested in learning more about this massive, largely undeveloped and highly variable coastline."--Provided by publisher.
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Field Guide to the Frogs of Australia

Michael J. Tyler and Frank Knight

Throughout much of the world, frog populations are declining and some species are disappearing totally. In Australia, several species have become extinct in the past 25 years.

This fully illustrated guide to all the known frogs of Australia provides concise accounts of 227 species within the five main frog families: Hylidae, Limnodynastidae, Microhylidae, Myobatrachidae and Ranidae. it also includes the introduced Cane Toad and provides notes on other 'stowaway' species that have arrived in Australia.

The text for each species includes details of size, status, distribution, habitat, behaviour and advertisement call. Each species is accompanied by a map of Australia showing its known distribution, and a full-colour painted illustration. Closely related frogs are shown in identical poses so that comparisions can be made readily. The introductory section of the book covers frog biology and habitats and includes notes on families and genera -- book cover

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Australian Bats

Sue Churchill

2nd edition

An identification guide to all 75 known species of Australian bats. Species are illustrated with colour photographs, and each species account includes a detailed description of the bat, measurements, a distribution map and notes on where they live, what they eat, and how they find food and reproduce.

Australian bats also provides general information on these fascinating animals: their evolution, why they hang upside down, roosting and reproduction, echolocation, and how to catch, survey and care for bats, including health hazards for carers. An identification key to the bat families is included, with important features illustrated by line drawings and photographs, as well as illustrated keys to all species -- book cover.
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Back to Basics

Geoff Wescott

This book shows how a series of specific, identifiable initiatives by governments could make an enormous difference to the health of Australia's environment. This is not an argument for individuals and community groups to pull back, but an argument that quantum improvements can be made by building on this community base.

Geaff Wescott is a teacher and researcher in environmental studies at Deakin University. He has published over 100 articles on environmental issues and served on many community and government boards at all levels of government. - book cover
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Forest trees of Australia

D.J. Boland and others. 5th edition revised and enlarged by M.W. McDonald and others.

Forest trees of Australia is the essential reference for observing, identifying and obtaining information on native trees. It describes and illustrates 300 of our most important indigenous trees, which have been carefully selected for their environmental significance, their importance to the timber industry, or their prominence in our landscape.

This new and thoroughly revised edition has been fully updated throughout and includes seventy-two treatments of additional species. New maps and photographs show us a wonderfully diverse range of forests, from mangrove swamps, tropical regions and deserts, to alpine areas and majestic stands of temperate forests. A colour section illustrates some of the major forest types of Australia and bark from a diverse range of species.

This is an unsurpassed guide to identification for horticulturists, botanists, foresters, students, farmers, environmentalists and all those who are interested in our native trees.
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Australian soil and land survey field handbook

The National Committee on Soil and Terrain

"This handbook specifies methods, standards and terminology used in soil and land survey investigations related to practical problems of land use and the scientific study of land and soil. It has been widely used and adopted as a standard throughout Australia, providing one reference set of definitions for the characterisation of landform and vegetation and for the description of soils. The book advocates that a comprehensive suite of land and soil attributes be recorded in a uniform manner. This approach is held to be more useful than the allocation of land or soil to preconceived types or classes. Its usefulness is enhanced where computer facilities are available. This revised edition contains significant changes to the Vegetation chapter and revisions to the Location chapter bringing it up-to-date with the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and changes to the Substrate chapter relating to the regolith."--Provided by publisher
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Climate change : the science, impacts and solutions

by A. Barrie Pittock

Presenting all sides of the arguments about the science and possible remedies [of climate change],Pittock examines the latest analyses of climate change, such as new and alarming observations regarding Arctic sea ice, the recently published IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, and the policies of the new Australian government and how they affect the implementation of climate change initiatives.
New material focuses on massive investments in large-scale renewables, such as the kind being taken up in California, as well as many smaller-scale activities in individual homes and businesses which are being driven by both regulatory and market mechanisms. The book includes extensive endnotes with links to ongoing and updated information,as well as some new illustrations. - book jacket.
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The transition handbook

by Rob Hopkins.

"We live in an oil-dependent world, and have got to this level of dependency in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process - without thinking ahead to plan for when the supply is not so plentiful. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities, which will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies, keeping money in the local area." "There are now over 35 formal Transition Initiatives in the UK, including towns, cities, islands, villages and peninsulas, with over 500 globally at the earlier stages of launching this process. With little proactivity at government level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. Within peak oil and climate change is the potential for the greatest economic, social and cultural renaissance we have ever seen. If your community has not yet become a Transition Initiative, this guide offers you the tools to get started."--BOOK JACKET.
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Australian saltmarsh ecology

Edited by Neil Saintilan.

Australian Saltmarsh Ecology presents the first comprehensive review of the ecology and management of Australia saltmarshes. The past 10 years in particular have seen a sustained research effort into this previously poorly understood and neglected resource.
Leading experts in the field outline what is known of the biogeography and geomorphology of Australian saltmarshes, their fish and invertebrate ecology, the use of Australian saltmarshes by birds and insectivorous bats, and the particular challenges of management, including the control of mosquito pests, and the issue of sea-level rise. They provide a powerful argument that coastal saltmarsh is a unique and critical habitat vulnerable to the combined impacts of coastal development and sea-level rise.
The book will be an important reference for saltmarsh researchers, marine and aquatic biologists, natural resource managers, environmentalists and ecologists, as well as undergraduate students and the interested layperson.
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The flora of North Stradbroke Island

K. Stephens & D. Sharp

[This]identification guide is the first comprehensive book documenting the Island's unique flora. It provides authoritative descriptions and a detailed identification guide to all the known native plants that occur on North Stradbroke Island. Some species are unique to North Stradbroke Island, while others have regional, statewide or worldwide distributions.

The book is divided into sections on identification, vegetation communities,traditional use, flowering times and introduced species. the majority of the species have colour photographs that allow easier visual identification...Foreword.
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A biological review of Australian marine turtle species

Colin J. Limpus ; editor, Leisa Fien

This review of Australian marine turtle specieas provides the firts comprehensive collation of biological data for all of the species in Australia: Loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta; Green turtle, Chelonia mydas;Hawksbill turtle, Eretmmochelys imbricata; Olive Ridley turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea; Flatback turtle, Natator depressus; Leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea. While peer reviewed scientific publications are the most significant source of information, there is a large body of additional information available form many other sources within Australia....The review provides a comprehensive summary of information available up to August 2004. - preface.
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Rocks, landscapes & resources of the wet tropics

Bernd Lottermoser ... [et al.]
This book brings to life the Wet Tropics of far north Queensland. It is the story of a regiion as complex and fascinating as none other.

Details on the region's rocks, landforms and resources are written simply for those with a strong curiosiitiy and love for nature.

"Rocks, Landscapes, and Resources of the Wet Tropics" is a engrossing explanation of a very special part of our planet. - book cover
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Mackay Revisited

K.H. Kennedy

Mackay Revisited presents a fresh approach to the story of Mackay’s history since European first stepped foot on Yuibera traditional lands in 1860.

Readers are given an insightful view of the first explorers whose members were apt to bouts of drunkenness, who were dogged by fear of attack by Aborigines and crocodiles, and who nicknamed John Mackay “Pickles” due to his habit of devouring all the food available. …

Mackay Revisited was commissioned by Mackay City Council in partnership with the State Library of Queensland. The book includes many historic photographs, some more than 100 years old, as well as contemporary photographs which provide a snapshot of ‘new’ Mackay. – book cover.
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Draft Girraween National Park management plan (New England Tableland bioregion)

Queensland Environment Protection Agency

This publication contains draft proposals for the management of the Girraween national Park. Management plans provide the framework and guidelines on how an area will be managed. They set the considerations, outcomes and strategies that form the basis of day-to-day management decisions.

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Wetland rehabilitation guidelines for the Great Barrier Reef catchment

by Wetland Care Australia

This document gives practical guidance on wetland rehabilitation for farmers, community groups, local councils, Queensland Government agencies, natural resources management bodies and the community.
It covers:

• ways to identify and classify wetlands, and determine their values

• threats to wetlands

• planning for wetland rehabilitation

• practical rehabilitation techniques

• legislative requirements

• maintenance, monitoring and evaluation of rehabilitation

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Soil characterisation at existing and potential burrowing sites of the northern hairy-nosed wombat

by Bruce Forster

An investigation has been undertaken of the soils in the habitat of the only known colony of the endangered Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat at Epping Forest National Park (EFNP), north-west of Clermont. Soils were also investigated at three other locations to determine their suitability for burrowing for a wombat relocation program. These three sites are "Yarran Downs" on the Balonne River btween St George and Surat, Nairana National Park near Belyando Crossing and Taunton National Park near Dingo.

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Waves in Oceanic and Coastal Waters

Leo H. Holthuijsen

Waves in Oceanic and Coastal Waters describes the observation, analysis and prediction of wind-generated waves in the open ocean, in shelf seas and in coastal regions. The book brings graduate students, researchers and engineers up-to-date with the science and technology involved, assuming only a basic understanding of physics, mathematics and statistics.
Most of this richly illustrated book is devoted to the physical aspects of waves. After introducing observation techniques for waves, both at sea and from space, the book defines the parameters that characterize waves. Using basic statistical and physical concepts, the author discusses the prediction of waves in oceanic and coastal waters, first in terms of generalized observations, and then in terms of the more theoretical framework of the spectral energy balance: their origin (generation by wind), their transformation to swell (dispersion), their propagation into coastal waters (shoaling, refraction, diffraction and reflection), the interaction amongst themselves (wave – wave interactions) and their decay (white-capping, bottom friction, and surf-breaking). He gives the results of established theories and also the direction in which research is developing. The book ends with a description of SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore), the preferred computer model of the engineering community for predicting waves in coastal waters.” -- book cover
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State of the World 2009 : Into a Warming World

Worldwatch Institute

[This publication] is intended to inject new inspiration and energy into national and international climate negotiations by conveying the profound long-term consequences of the experiment we are now conducting with Earth’s atmosphere, with an emphasis on the human and ecological effects of that transformation. Includes six policy chapters and 22 Climate Connections on the many important issues affected by climate change plus a Climate Change Reference Guide and Glossary. – book cover
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Carbon pollution reduction scheme

Department of Climate Change

This White paper, with the subtitle Australia's Low Pollution Future, outlines the government proposals for action since climate change poses a substantial threat to Australia’s economy and our way of life.

Australia faces a choice. We can either wait and leave our children and grandchildren to face the full impacts of climate change, or we can take responsible action now by investing I the industries and jobs of the future. – foreword


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Too close for comfort

Edited by Daniel Lunney, Adam Munn and Will Meikle

This publication contains papers concerning encounters with wildlife which were presented at the Forum of the Royal Zoological Society of NSW and cover encounters with - koalas, possums, kangaroos, bandicoots, flying foxes, dolphins, sea lions, whales, eagles, magpies, dingoes, cats, roadkills, tourism and zoos, all with a strong urban emphasis

It is well worth reading the strongly worded foreword which outlines exactly what it fails to cover.

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Ecology and conservation of Australian bell frogs

Edited by Ross Goldingay and Will Osborne

This special issue of Australian Zoologist contains the papers resulting from a symposium on Bell frogs held in 2006 at Sydney Olympic Park. Papers include accounts of the ecology of two bell frog species as well as descriptions of projects which address their management and conservation requirements.

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Mine Closure 2007

Editors, Andy Fourie, Mark Tibbett and Jacques Wiertz

“This volume contains the proceedings of the Second International Seminar on Mine Closure held 16-19 October in Santiago, Chile, hosted by Gecamin Ltd. A total of 89 pee reviewed papers written by authors from 20 countries are presented in this volume. The publication also includes the four plenary presentations and the opening ceremony keynote address by Andy Fourie and Mark Tibbett entitled Post-Mining Landforms – Engineering a Biological System.” – back cover
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