What do you think?
Rate this book
Collins New Naturalist #121
Partridges
Globally, there are at least 45 species of game bird that have the word partridge in their name, but in this book G. R. Potts devotes himself to the Grey, Red-legged and Chukar Partridges, with particular emphasis on the Grey Partridge due to its well-known decline in Britain.
In this groundbreaking addition to the New Naturalist series, Potts explores how mankind and partridges have evolved together, both ultimately dependent on grasslands rather than forests. For thousands of years, both ate grass seeds and this continued until cereals largely replaced them. Hundreds of species of plant and insect that partridges and other birds eat thrived on farms for thousands of years until the dawn of the pesticides era. Since then the long decline in partridge abundance has been a barometer for biodiversity over vast swathes of the Northern Hemisphere.
Highlighting the positive example of the Norfolk Estate in the Sussex Study area, Potts investigates how both Grey and Red-legged Partridge numbers have been increased, flourishing in a highly productive and profitable system of farming and an oasis in what has often looked and sounded like a desert. In a small corner of England farmland wildlife is able to thrive much as it did before pesticides were introduced.
This is a complex and fascinating story, with a heady mix of hunting, farming, predation, parasites, disease and climate change. The way these factors have interacted tells us a lot about how lesser known species have fared and how they can be conserved for the future. Potts stresses the importance of these conservation efforts, as farmers respond to the needs of an extra three billion people worldwide, not just for food but for bio-fuels. Additionally, the pressures on farmland wildlife will further intensify in the coming years.
Reviews
In this groundbreaking addition to the New Naturalist series, Potts explores how mankind and partridges have evolved together, both ultimately dependent on grasslands rather than forests. For thousands of years, both ate grass seeds and this continued until cereals largely replaced them. Hundreds of species of plant and insect that partridges and other birds eat thrived on farms for thousands of years until the dawn of the pesticides era. Since then the long decline in partridge abundance has been a barometer for biodiversity over vast swathes of the Northern Hemisphere.
Highlighting the positive example of the Norfolk Estate in the Sussex Study area, Potts investigates how both Grey and Red-legged Partridge numbers have been increased, flourishing in a highly productive and profitable system of farming and an oasis in what has often looked and sounded like a desert. In a small corner of England farmland wildlife is able to thrive much as it did before pesticides were introduced.
This is a complex and fascinating story, with a heady mix of hunting, farming, predation, parasites, disease and climate change. The way these factors have interacted tells us a lot about how lesser known species have fared and how they can be conserved for the future. Potts stresses the importance of these conservation efforts, as farmers respond to the needs of an extra three billion people worldwide, not just for food but for bio-fuels. Additionally, the pressures on farmland wildlife will further intensify in the coming years.
Reviews
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
21 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 14, 2021
Dedicated science at its best. The story of an indicator species that everyone should know about.
December 23, 2012
I know no one as interested in partridges, or as interesting on them, as Dick Potts. The author is a world authority on partridge species, particularly Grey Partridge.
A thorough understanding of one species usually leads to an understanding of its relationship with other species as food, predators, competitors and parasites. You get all that in this book, as well as a real understanding of how changes in the artificial habitat of arable farmland have affected partridges.
Dick has studied partridges, and worked with people who shoot them, for decades. Many of the experiences and studies that he cites come from large shooting estates, which have done a good job for Grey Partridge, and where management for partridges has benefited wider biodiversity. There is no doubt that the best end of the shooting industry can deliver an awful lot for wildlife in our countryside, and this book provides a useful reminder of that.
The description of the great success in restoring partridge numbers on the Norfolk Estate on the Sussex South Downs should be read by everyone. It’s a good example, as the author writes, of a partnership between a private landowner with an interest in shooting and the rest of us through our contribution of publicly funded wildlife-friendly farming grants.
A good example, then, but not one which might be very easily replicated as it involved cessation of shooting for several years, stopping the release of Red-legged Partridges and Pheasants to concentrate on Grey Partridges, changes in field sizes and alteration of cropping patterns, and all on a large estate with land that was pretty much perfect for Grey Partridge.
If you are a small farmer on heavy land and aren’t interested in shooting, or can’t possibly afford a gamekeeper, then you may fail to get your partridge numbers up under current agricultural conditions. That was the experience of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust at Loddington, although the author says little about that, and nothing about the RSPB’s modest success at restoring Grey Partridge numbers at Hope Farm, Cambridgeshire, without any predator control.
Dick Potts writes that in the absence of eagles, Eagle Owl, Eurasian Lynx and Wolf, we have high numbers of medium-sized predators such as Sparrowhawks and Red Foxes. Are gamekeepers merely acting as eagles and wolves when they cull foxes? Maybe landowners should have been more welcoming to White-tailed Eagles in Suffolk as they would reduce Marsh Harrier activity. And if grouse moors tolerated Golden Eagles, then perhaps they wouldn’t need to worry about Hen Harriers.
Partridges is a stimulating read from an expert in his (arable) field. The last three sentences of this book should be read by conservationists, shooters and all in the agriculture industry, and by you (but start at the beginning).
This review first appeared in the December issue of Birdwatch magazine http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/re...
A thorough understanding of one species usually leads to an understanding of its relationship with other species as food, predators, competitors and parasites. You get all that in this book, as well as a real understanding of how changes in the artificial habitat of arable farmland have affected partridges.
Dick has studied partridges, and worked with people who shoot them, for decades. Many of the experiences and studies that he cites come from large shooting estates, which have done a good job for Grey Partridge, and where management for partridges has benefited wider biodiversity. There is no doubt that the best end of the shooting industry can deliver an awful lot for wildlife in our countryside, and this book provides a useful reminder of that.
The description of the great success in restoring partridge numbers on the Norfolk Estate on the Sussex South Downs should be read by everyone. It’s a good example, as the author writes, of a partnership between a private landowner with an interest in shooting and the rest of us through our contribution of publicly funded wildlife-friendly farming grants.
A good example, then, but not one which might be very easily replicated as it involved cessation of shooting for several years, stopping the release of Red-legged Partridges and Pheasants to concentrate on Grey Partridges, changes in field sizes and alteration of cropping patterns, and all on a large estate with land that was pretty much perfect for Grey Partridge.
If you are a small farmer on heavy land and aren’t interested in shooting, or can’t possibly afford a gamekeeper, then you may fail to get your partridge numbers up under current agricultural conditions. That was the experience of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust at Loddington, although the author says little about that, and nothing about the RSPB’s modest success at restoring Grey Partridge numbers at Hope Farm, Cambridgeshire, without any predator control.
Dick Potts writes that in the absence of eagles, Eagle Owl, Eurasian Lynx and Wolf, we have high numbers of medium-sized predators such as Sparrowhawks and Red Foxes. Are gamekeepers merely acting as eagles and wolves when they cull foxes? Maybe landowners should have been more welcoming to White-tailed Eagles in Suffolk as they would reduce Marsh Harrier activity. And if grouse moors tolerated Golden Eagles, then perhaps they wouldn’t need to worry about Hen Harriers.
Partridges is a stimulating read from an expert in his (arable) field. The last three sentences of this book should be read by conservationists, shooters and all in the agriculture industry, and by you (but start at the beginning).
This review first appeared in the December issue of Birdwatch magazine http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/re...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews