Polar Bears - A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior (gnv64)

Polar Bears: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior
by Andrew E. Derocher and Wayne Lynch
Johns Hopkins University Press | March 2012 | ISBN-10: 1421403056 | ePUB | 229 pages | 28.4 mb
http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Bears-Complete-Biology-Behavior/dp/1421403056

The polar bear, king of the Arctic, is one of the world’s most recognizable animals. Images of the majestic beasts roaming across the ice cap, plunging into frigid waters, and playing with furry cubs have come to symbolize the beauty and grandeur of the Arctic. Andrew E. Derocher and Wayne Lynch have spent decades following the bears, and this book offers the most comprehensive and readable review of their biology, ecology, behavior, and conservation.
With gripping photographs by Lynch, a preeminent wildlife photographer, and the personal stories of Derocher, this book is as stunning to look at as it is fascinating to read. It weaves together their remarkable experiences with the latest research to tell the amazing story of these Arctic predators, tracing the animals back to their evolutionary roots and looking ahead to the future of polar bears on a warming planet Earth.
Through informative and engaging language, Derocher carefully explains the sea ice ecosystem that is essential to the survival of polar bears. He addresses the threat of global warming to the Arctic—home to polar bears for tens of thousands of years—and describes in impressive detail their feeding habits, distribution, den ecology, and reproduction. Lynch’s vivid photographs capture all this and more as they chronicle the wide range of polar bear behavior, from family rituals to ferocious predatory practices.
Captivating, accurate, and inspiring, Polar Bears belongs in the hands of all who love the wild.

About the Author

Andrew E. Derocher, a leading polar bear researcher, is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta and author of numerous articles on large Arctic mammals. Wayne Lynch is a freelance science writer and wildlife photographer and a fellow of the prestigious Explorers Club.
Among his many publications is Owls of the United States and Canada: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior, also published by Johns Hopkins.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
2 A Polar Bear Described
3 Evolution
4 Early Polar Bear–Human Interactions
5 Arctic Marine Ecosystems
6 Sea Ice and Habitat
7 Prey
8 Distribution and Populations
9 Hunting Methods
10 Polar Bear Behavior
11 Den Ecology
12 From Birth to Death
13 Threats
14 Looking Forward
Appendix A: Scientific Names of Plants and Animals
Appendix B: Species of Plants and Animals Eaten by Polar Bears
References
Index