GAME HERITAGE: AN ECOLOGICAL REVIEW FROM SHOOTING AND GAMEKEEPING RECORDS. By Stephen Tapper.

# 1992 1st edition. Large 4to (211 x 304mm). Ppviii,140. B/w illustrations, colour diagrams and maps, extensive bibliography, grey end-papers. Laminated boards, issued without dust-wrapper.

# This is a detailed analysis of historical population data of some British mammals and birds, using figures culled from the long-term records of gamekeepers on country estates. Each species has a page of text, with distribution maps and graphs of population trends. Chapters include: An historical perspective: evolution of the sporting gun, the rural landscape, the social framework, the upland scene; The last 100 years: changes in the landscape, changes in shooting, changes in gamekeeping; Introduction to the species accounts: the sample unit - bag density, national trends, long-term trends, geographical distributions, population cycles; The game: Rabbit, Brown hare, Mountain hare, Woodpigeon, Grey partridge, Redleg partridge, Pheasant, Red grouse, Black grouse, Capercaillie, Woodcock, Common snipe, Mallard, Teal, Tufted duck. The predators: Hedgehog, Weasel, Stoat, Polecat, American mink, Wildcat, Red fox, Grey squirrel, Brown rat, Magpie, Carrion and hooded crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Jay; An overview: Then and now - Edwardians and Elizabethans, Finding a future for game - subsistence exploitation, commercial exploitation, regulated hunting, wild game management, predator control or predation control, Squaring conservation with game management. Appendices include: The Game Conservancy's National Game Bag Census - early uses of bag records, launching the scheme, restructuring for computer, recent additions; Changes over time: cycles - time series analysis, true-cycles, phase-remembering quasi-cycles, phase-forgetting quasi-cycles, non-cyclic populations; time series analysis; The National Game Bag Census computer. Includes extensive references.