Manipulative Monkeys: The Capuchins of Lomas Barbudal, by Susan Perry and Joseph H. Manson. 2008. Harvard University Press. 368pp. ISBN: 978-0674026643. Manipulative Monkeys takes us into a Costa Rican forest teeming with simian drama, where since 1990 primatologists Susan Perry and Joseph H. Manson have followed the lives of four generations of capuchins. What the authors describe is behavior as entertaining -and occasionally as alarming- as it is recognizable: the competition and cooperation, the jockeying for position and status, the peaceful years under an alpha male devolving into bloody chaos, and the complex traditions passed from one generation to the next. Interspersed with their observations of the monkeys' lives are the authors' colorful tales of the challenges of tropical fieldwork -a mixture so rich that by the book's end we know what it is to be a wild capuchin monkey or a field primatologist. And we are left with a clear sense of the importance of these endangered monkeys for understanding human behavioral evolution. Contents: 1. All in a day's work; 2. The social intelligence debate and the origins of the Lomas Barbudal monkey proyect; 3. The challenges of foraging and self-medication; 4. Predators, prey and personality; 5. Capuchin communication; 6. Two females' political careers; 7. The career of and alpha male; 8. The strategies of incoming alpha males; 9. Lethal aggression and the importance of allies; 10. Capuchin mothers, infants and babysitters; 11. Innovation and tradition in the creation of blood-testing rituals; 12. Social learning and the roots of culture; 13. Conservation of tropical dry forest.

Conservation and Sustainable Use: A Handbook of Techniques, by E.J. Milner-Gulland and J. Marcus Rowcliffe. 2008. Oxford University Press. 320pp. ISBN: 978-0198530350. Conservation and Sustainable Use provides a practical and integrated approach to carrying out research on the conservation of exploited species. It is relevant to both tropical and temperate biomes and is applicable to all exploited species, including mammals, fish and plants. It describes both the practical (field) and theoretical (modeling) techniques for obtaining and interpreting information, integrating biological, social, economic and institutional analyses. It also demonstrates how to translate information into effective action through appropriate interventions, from legislation to changing people's attitudes. Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. Techniques for surveying exploited species; 3. Understanding natural resource users' incentives; 4. Assessing current sustainability of use; 5. Developing predictive models; 6. Choosing management approaches; 7. Implementing management for long-term sustainability.

Economics of Poverty, Environment and Natural Resource Use, edited by Rob B. Dellink and Arjan Ruijs. 2008. Springer. 218pp. ISBN: 978-1402083037. This book contributes to an improved understanding of the economic dimensions of environmental and natural-resource management and poverty alleviation. The ten chapters of the book offer an overview of the current knowledge concerning the relation between poverty, environment and natural-resource use. Three sides of the debate receive particular attention. First, the relation between resource use and poverty is discussed from a theoretical point of view. Second, it is questioned whether payments for environmental services or considering values of resources can be an effective tool for stimulating both sustainable resource use and poverty alleviation. Third, alternative strategies to break the land degradation poverty cycle are discussed. Contents: 1. Introduction — A. Ruijs, R. B. Dellink, and D. W. Bromley; 2. Poverty traps and resource dynamics in smallholder agrarian systems — C. B. Barrett; 3. Water resource management and the poor — P. Hellegers, K. Schoengold and D. Zilberman; 4. The role of measurement problems and monitoring PES schemes — G. Meijerink; 5. Can ecotourism be an alternative to traditional fishing? An analysis with reference to the case of the Saloum Delta (Senegal) — O. Sarr, J. Boncoeur, M. Travers and M. C. Cormier-Salem; 6. Effects of poverty on deforestation: distinguishing behavior from location — A. Pfaff, S. Kerr, R. Cavatassi, B. Davis, L. Lipper, A. Sanchez and J. Timmins; 7. Willingness to pay for systematic management of community forest for conservation of non-timber forest products in Nigeria's rainforest region: implications for poverty alleviation — N. A. Chukwuone and C. E. Okorji; 8. Traditional institutions and sustainable livelihood: evidences from upland agricultural communities in the Philippines — M. Omura; 9. Farmers investing in sustainable land use at a tropical forest fringe, the Philippines — M. R. Romero and W. T. de Groot; 10. A bargaining model of migration: getting the permission of the farm household — A. Mensah-Bonsu and K. Burger.

Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Tropical and Sub-tropical Forest, edited by M. Kalacska and A. Sanchez-Azofeifa. 2008. CRC. 352pp. ISBN: 978-1420053418. While frequently used in temperate environments, hyperspectral sensors and data are still a novelty in the tropics. Exploring the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing for assessing ecosystem characteristics, Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Tropical and Sub-Tropical Forests focuses on the complex and unique set of challenges involved in using this technology and the data it provides. Contents: 1. Tropical dry forest phenology and discrimination of tropical tree species using hyperspectral data — K. L. Castro-Esau and M. Kalacska; 2. Remote sensing and plant functional groups: physiology, ecology and spectroscopy in tropical systems — M. Alvarez-Añorve, M. Quesada and E. de la Barrera; 3. Hyperspectral dara for assessing carbon dynamics and biodiversity of forest — R. Lucas, A. Mitchell and P. Bunting; 4. Effects of soil type on plant growth. Leaf nutrient/Chlorophyll concentration and leaf reflectance of tropical tree and grass species — J. C. Calvo-Alvarado, M. Kalacska, G. A. Sanchez-Azofeifa and L. S. Bell; 5. Spectral expression on gender: a pilot study with two dioecious neotropical tree species — J. P. Arroyo-Mora, M. Kalacska, B. L. Caraballo, J. E. Trujillo and O. Vargas; 6. Species classification of tropical tree leaf reflectance and dependence on selection of spectral bands — B. Rivard, G. A. Sanchez-Azofeifa, S. Forey and J. C. Calvo-Alvarado; 7. Discriminating Sirex noctilio attack in pine forest plantations in south Africa using high spectral resolution data — R. Ismail, O. Mutanga and F. Ahmed; 8. Hyperspectral remote sensing of explosed wood and deciduous trees in seasonal tropical forests — S. Bohlman; 9. Assessing recovery following selective logging of lowland tropical forests based on hyperspectral imagery — J. P.Arroyo-Mora, M. Kalacska, R. L. Chazdon, D. L. Cirvco, G. Obando-Vargas, and A. A. S. Hernández; 10. Technique for reflectance calibration of airbone hyperspectral spectrometer data using a broad multiband radiometer — T. Miura, A. R. Huete, L. G. Ferreira, E. E. Sano and H. Yoshioka; 11. Assessment of phenologic variability in Amazon tropical rainforests using hyperspectral hyperion and MODIS satellite data — A. R. Huete, Y. Kim, P. Ratana, K. Didan, Y. E. Shimabukuro and T. Miura; 12. Hyperspectral remote sensing of canopy chemistry, physiology and biodiversity in tropical rainforests — G. P. Asner; 13. Tropical Remote Sensing-Opportunities and challenges — J. A. Gamon.