Product Description

Brazil: Amazon and Pantanal has all the information you need to find, identify, and learn about Brazil's magnificent animal and plant life. The authors, professional biologists, selected illustrations of more than 500 of Brazil's most common insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and fish - the species you are most likely to see. In one easy-to-carry, entertainingly written, beautifully illustrated book, you will have: identifying and location information on the most frequently seen animals; up-to-date information on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of the animals; information on Brazil's habitats and on the most common plants you will encounter; brief descriptions of the most frequently visited parks and reserves in the Amazon and Pantanal regions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #309082 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 491 pages

About the Author
David L. Pearson is a Research Professor in the Department of Biology at Arizona State University. His research is concentrated on ecological interactions among communities of species. He has studied habitats from desert grasslands and coral atolls to tropical rainforests and has written more than 75 scientific articles. Having conducted ecological research in Brazil, Peru and Ecuador intermittently during the past 30 years, he has become involved with environmental education and ecotourism in the region and is co-author of The New Key to Ecuador and the Galapagos, a tourist's guide to hotels, restaurants, and places of natural interest; of Ecuador and Its Galapagos Islands: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide; and of Peru: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide. Les Beletsky is a professional wildlife biologist and university zoology teacher. Prior to taking up writing wildlife guides, he conducted many years of field research into the ecology and behavior of birds, publishing many scientific reports and writing two books. An avid ecotraveler, he has visited numerous sites in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia. He currently makes his home in Seattle, Washington.

Customer Reviews

Brazil-Amazon
This book attempts to cover the whole gamut of wildlife for the Amazon basin and Pananal. It can't do it; no book can. It did make an admirable attempt and as such is a great book for the tourist traveling to the area. On a recent trip north of Manaus, it covered 98% of the bird life. It is concise enough that the occaisional bird wathcer will be able to identify most birds. It is not quite as adequate for other species- fish are very superficial, as are reptiles. I would like to see these expanded. This is a terrific guide for the tourist- concise, adequately complete, and easy to use.

good reference for specific ecosystems
I used this book for a recent trip to Brazil's Pantanal. The book is specific to only two geographic areas: The Pantanal and the Amazon, admittedly, Brazil's biggest natural draws. However, since the Pantanal and the Atlantic rainforest were my destinations, the book's usefulness was only partially utilized. Also, it is a heavy volume, and when considered with the other guidebooks I packed and used for cross-referencing, this book was by far the heftiest.

The book does fill a unique niche, that of ecology and natural history guide to these two unique wild places. No other book that is easily carried provides as much enjoyable natural history reading on the Amazon and Pantanal. The illustration plates are uniformly excellent, but it is not noted whether species occur outside of the Pantanal and Amazon. Many species do occur outside, as I quickly found out. Eliminating the rest of Brazil all together just seems a bit restricting. An average traveller to Brazil is most likely to make a stop in Rio de Janeiro, perhaps visit the easily accessible Parque National de Tijuca, and wonder if what they're seeing is that similar looking bird in their book.

Brazil is a big country, and no guidebook has yet to cover all its flora and fauna in one volume, in English, and travel-sized. This guidebook attempts to cover at least the animals and birds of Brazil's largest natural treasures, and succeeds for the most part. Given its quality of illustrations and plates, written descriptions of behavior, ecology and geography, this book is a good when used in conjunction with other bird and mammal guides.