Animals under logs and stones

Charlotte Wheater, Helen J. Read, C. Philip Wheater

Description

Logs, stones and the like provide an interesting interface between the damp depths of the soil and the drier open ground surface, offering refuges for a fascinating array of animals. The communities of organisms that live beneath them are little noticed and even less studied, yet the potential for ecological work here is great. Some of the animals are relatively large and frequently not difficult to find. They exhibit a wide range of lifestyles – from slow slugs or snails to very fast centipedes, from generalist to specialist feeders and from herbivores to carnivores.

With chapters covering the cryptosphere environment, species groups, identification, guidelines and ideas for further research, this much-expanded and updated new edition also includes extensive, easy-to-use, comprehensively illustrated keys. Ground-surface debris can be found almost anywhere, often presenting highly accessible microhabitats for study and bringing immediate rewards to the curious: here is the ideal tool to unlock these worlds.

1. Introduction

2. Environmental conditions under logs and stones

3. The cryptozoa

4. Identifying the animals

5. Studying animals under logs and stones

6. Useful addresses and links

7. References and further reading

Index

Sujets

• Invertebrates
• Life Sciences
• Sciences et techniques
• Biology
• Entomology
• Zoology
• Invertebrate
• Animals
• 454 Life Sciences
• Science

Informations

• Publié par: Pelagic Publishing
• Date de parution: 11 juillet 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781784274184
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 87 Mo

Extrait

Second edition published in 2023 by
Pelagic Publishing
20-22 Wenlock Road
London N1 7GU, UK
www.pelagicpublishing.com
Copyright C. Philip Wheater, Helen J. Read & Charlotte E. Wheater 2023
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Apart from short excerpts for use in research or for reviews, no part of this document may be printed or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, now known or hereafter invented or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.
First edition published in 1996 by The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd
Naturalists Handbooks
Series editor: William D.J. Kirk
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78427-417-7 Pbk
ISBN 978-1-78427-418-4 ePub
ISBN 978-1-78427-419-1 PDF
https://doi.org/10.53061/UXAG4304
Cover images, clockwise from top: Neobisium carcinoides ( Frank Ashwood), Platyarthrus hoffmanseggii ( Frank Ashwood), Eurynebria complanata ( Nigel Cattlin/naturepl.com ), Blaniulus guttulatus ( Frank Ashwood).
Contents
Editor s preface
About Naturalists Handbooks
About the authors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Environmental conditions under logs and stones
3. The cryptozoa
4. Identifying the animals
Key A Major invertebrate groups
Key B Flatworms
Key C Earthworms
Key D Slugs
Key E Snails
Key F Mites
Key G Harvestmen
Key H Pseudoscorpions
Key I Spiders
Key J Woodlice
Key K Millipedes
Key L Centipedes
Key M Hexapoda
Key N Springtails
Key O Earwigs
Key P Cockroaches
Key Q Orthopterans (crickets and allied insects)
Key R Ants (workers)
Key S Beetles
Key T Ground beetles
Key U Rove beetles
Key V Insect larvae
Key W Amphibians
Key X Reptiles
Key Y Small mammals
5. Studying animals under logs and stones
6. Useful addresses and links
7. References and further reading
Index
Editor s preface
A remarkable diversity of fascinating animals can be found in the habitat under logs and stones, including small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and a very wide range of invertebrates. This Naturalists Handbook gives an introduction to the natural history, biology and ecology of these animals and provides advice on how to study them, together with identification keys to the many animal groups. The first edition of Animals under logs and stones was published 27 years ago, in 1996. This second edition is considerably expanded, with many more colour illustrations and many more identification keys. It offers an updated and more detailed coverage of the subject. Animals under logs and stones complements several other titles in this series: Common ground beetles (No. 8), Ants (No. 24), Studying invertebrates (No. 28) and Amphibians and reptiles (No. 31).
This habitat is particularly suitable for ecological investigation because it can be created easily and conveniently by placing objects such as bricks or tiles on the ground. Factors such as the size, position and spacing can be varied easily. The book includes suggestions of topics that can be investigated in this way. These created habitats can also be used for observing lifecycles, detecting species for species records, monitoring species for conservation or simply discovering the world of hidden animals that usually go unnoticed.
William D.J. Kirk
December 2022
About Naturalists Handbooks
Naturalists Handbooks encourage and enable those interested in natural history to undertake field study, make accurate identifications and produce original contributions to research. A typical reader may be studying natural history at sixth-form or undergraduate level, carrying out species/habitat surveys as an ecological consultant, undertaking academic research or just developing a deeper understanding of natural history.
About the authors
Phil Wheater is Professor Emeritus in Environmental and Geographical Sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University. After a long university career, he has semi-retired to follow his interests in the ecology and management of human-influenced environments, and invertebrate conservation and management. He is a keen advocate of field ecology and continues to teach university students, including on field courses.
Dr Helen Read is the Conservation Officer for the City of London Corporation at Burnham Beeches, a National Nature Reserve in Bucks. She is an active member of the British Myriapod and Isopod Group having been Secretary and Bulletin Editor for many years and has previously served on the Council of the British Arachnological Society and been its Secretary. She is currently updating the Synopsis of the British Fauna volume on millipedes.
Charlotte Wheater is an artist who has produced illustrations for a range of outputs, including websites, research reports, infographics, and books.
Acknowledgements
This book emerged from teaching notes and identification keys used at Manchester Metropolitan University to support students studying field ecology. We are grateful for the copious feedback from students and colleagues at the Manchester Metropolitan and Manchester Victoria Universities and members of the British Myriapod Group and British Isopod Study Group who contributed to the success of the first edition. A large number of people gave freely of their time and advice to help us to produce that edition, including Geoff Allen, Gordon Blower, Sarah Corbet, Rod Cullen, John Dallingwater, Henry Disney, Glyn Evans, Peter Hammond, Steve Hopkin, Richard Preece, Dennis Unwin and Jonathan Wright.
This second edition includes totally revised keys reflecting the major taxonomic changes that have taken place over the last 25 years. We would like to thank all those experts who helped in the production of this edition by supplying information (often unpublished) and advice, as well as constructive criticism of our text and keys and commenting on the accuracy and accessibility of the work. We are extremely grateful to the series editor, William Kirk, for his support and attention to detail which has greatly improved this volume. In addition, we would particularly like to thank the following who commented and provided advice and information on particular sections of the book: Penny Cook and Mark Langan commented on the text for Chapters 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 and the introduction for Chapter 4 , while Vikki Bengtsson commented on the section on the decomposition of wood; Martin Albertini reviewed the general invertebrate (A), hexapod (M) and insect larvae (V) keys, and Mike Dobson commented on amphibious leeches; Hugh Jones reviewed the flatworm key (B) and gave us access to unpublished information and records; Kevin Butt reviewed the earthworm key (C); Christian Owen and Ben Rowson reviewed the slug (D) and snail (E) keys; Matthew Shepherd contributed to the production of the mite key (F), and Felicity Crotty reviewed the final version - both kindly gave us access to their draft key; Mike Davidson reviewed the harvestman key (G) and Paul Richards gave us access to his tabular key; Francis Farr-Cox and Gerald Legg reviewed the pseudoscorpion key (H); James Bell and Paul Selden reviewed the spider key (I); Steve Gregory reviewed the woodlouse key (J); Tony Barber reviewed the centipede key (L); Peter Shaw reviewed the springtail key (N); Judith Marshall reviewed the earwig (O), cockroach (P) and orthopteroid (Q) keys; Gary Skinner reviewed the ant key (R); Chris Terrell-Nield reviewed the beetle family (S), ground beetle (T) and rove beetle (U) keys; Martin Hartup reviewed the amphibian (W) and reptile (X) keys; Will Trewhella and Stephanie Wray reviewed the small mammal key (Y); Jaime Martin and Charlotte Rideout commented on some of the keys.
All images associated with the keys ( Chapter 4 ) were drawn by Charlotte Wheater. Unless otherwise stated, all other images are by Phil Wheater and Helen Read. Those marked CC are used without modification under appropriate licences from Creative Commons: Figure 3.11 - Nematode by KSRE Photo is licensed under CC BY 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode Figure 3.12 - Horsehair Worm by Alastair Rae is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode Figure 3.16 - File:Enchytraeidae2.jpg by D. Sikes is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode Figure 3.26 - Crane Fly Larva by treegrow is licensed under CC BY 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode Figure 3.33 - Rote Samtmilbe - Red velvet mite by gbohne is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode Figure 3.38 - File:European Yellow-Tailed Scorpion (Euroscorpius flavicaudis)-Sheerness UK-August 2013 2013-08-28 16-07.jpg by User:Dikhou is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode Figure 3.61 - File:Festival of Proturans Part I (8643068105).jpg by Andy Murray is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode Figure 3.66 - File:Nemobius sylvestris (Gryllidae) (Wood cricket) - (male imago), Molenhoek, the Netherlands. jpg . This image is created by user B. Schoenmakers at waarneming.nl, a source of nature observations in the Netherlands, and is licensed under CC BY 3.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode Figure 3.67 - Mole cricket. Grylloptalpa gryllotalpa. Grylloptalpidae by gailhampshire is licensed under CC BY 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode Figure 3.73 - Agriotes lineatus 1 by Chris_Moody is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode Figure 3.74 - Carabus violaceus. Violet Ground Beetles under bark by gailhampshire is licensed under CC