Almost all work in ecology or conservation requires a census of the population. In this book, experts from around the world describe the practical methods for carrying out a census. The book includes the underlying theory and the practical details for plants and each group of animals. Environmental measures are often made at the same time, so this book describes in detail how to carry these out. A final list of the 20 commonest censusing sins provides a light hearted guide to avoiding the common errors.

Preface; 1. Planning a research programme William J. Sutherland; 2. Principles of sampling Jeremy J. D. Greenwood and Robert A. Robinson; 3. General census methods Jeremy J. D. Greenwood and Robert A. Robinson; 4. Plants James M. Bullock; 5. Invertebrates Malcolm Ausden and Martin Drake; 6. Fish Isabelle M. Côté and Martin R. Perrow; 7. Amphibians Tim R. Halliday; 8. Reptiles Simon Blomberg and Richard Shine; 9. Birds David W. Gibbons and Richard D. Gregory; 10. Mammals Charles Krebs; 11. Environmental variables Jacquelyn C. Jones, John D. Reynolds and Dave Raffaelli; 12. The twenty commonest censusing sins William J. Sutherland; Index.