David
Jenkins had a big
influence on the initial research and
development of
the Nature Conservancy and the Institute of
Terrestrial Ecology (now the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) in
Scotland, and introduced scientific thinking into the work of the
World Pheasant Association. His book describes the growth of these
organizations and the ways in which ideas for conservation
research developed in Scotland and have influenced gamebird
conservationists overseas. He believes in multidisciplinary
research in ecology, with scientists working most effectively in
small groups, and he emphasises the roles of ecologists in
integrating policies for land use, with work on a big estate in
south-east England as a practical example.
His
book is intended not as a close on a life's work but as a stimulus
to sustainable land use and as a baton to stimulate debate and
future research among a new generation of wildlife
conservationists, ecologists and land managers.
"David
Jenkins has made enormous
contributions to international
conservation"
Keith Howman,
President, World Pheasant Association.
"A
tenacious researcher whose story is
near the truth"
Charles Elton
"My
research showed a quantum leap in
quality when DJ became my chief
critic"
John
Goss-Custard
Copies
of this book can be obtained from:
TLA
Publications, P.O. Box 62,
Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, AB34 5YF, U.K.
Order per email: davidjenkins@davidjenkins.fsnet.co.uk
The
price is £21 + £4 postage and packing in Europe (or 40
Euro including p&p),
and £21
+ £9 postage and packing elsewhere. Payment
acceptable by cash or cheque.
Review
by Ilse Storch
Jenkins,
D. 2003: Of Partridges &
Peacocks - and of things about which
I knew
nothing.
A life in wildlife ecology and
wildlife management. TLA
Publications, Aboyne, UK.
360 pp.
ISBN 0-9546277-0-9
As
a grouse specialist, there are at least
five reasons why you
should read David Jenkins'
autobiography: 1) You are interested in
how
wildlife ecology became established, and 2) why it was so
successful in Scotland; 3) you wonder what your career might have
been like if you had started out in the 1950s; 4) you want to know
if grouse, after all, are intrinsically or extrinsically
regulated, and 5) you have known DJ for many years and wonder what
he might have written about you!
David
Jenkins was born in 1926 and has been a birdwatcher and naturalist
since boyhood. He began his career as a veterinary surgeon, but
after studying for his doctorate on the social behaviour of
partridges, became an ecologist. He worked initially for the
Scottish Landowners' Federation and Aberdeen University, and
subsequently with the Nature Conservancy (now English Nature) and
the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE, now the Centre for
Ecology and Hydrology) at Banchory. David Jenkins also played a
key role in introducing scientific thinking, both to the World
Pheasant Association and the early Grouse Symposia. He served as
the editor of several Grouse Symposium Proceedings and has been
one of the driving forces behind the publication of Grouse News
and the foundation of the IUCN/SSC/Birdlife International/WPA
Grouse Specialist Group.
In
his book, David Jenkins describes the various stages of his career
as a scientist in Scotland, from the young field ecologist, to the
research director and mentor he became in later years. He also
reports on his many professional travels through Europe and Asia.
The book is as much a personal narrative of an individual life and
career, as an account of how the young science of ecology has
developed and became recognized and institutionalised in Britain
since the 1950s. It provides a detailed chronicle of the history
of research in nature conservation in Scotland, and of game bird
studies in particular.
To
population ecologists, and particularly to those working on
grouse, David Jenkins´ review of the long-lasting controversy
between the two opposing schools on red grouse population
regulation, and the various evidence and arguments as to whether
grouse cycles are caused by intrinsic(the ITE´s position) as
opposed to extrinsic mechanisms (the Game Conservancy Trust's
position), is most interesting. The story demonstrates how
alternative hypotheses and the egos promoting them generated
excellent, experimental research that led to a deeper
understanding of the population dynamics of grouse and far more
beyond.
Despite
its
title, this is not so much a book on partridges and peacocks,
as on people involved in studying them. David Jenkins remembers
and describes many who crossed his tracks and shared parts of his
career, either as teachers, friends, colleagues, administrators or
students.
In
the
preface to his book, David proffers several excuses for
writing an autobiography. I suppose we may add another one: David
loves to write, and he loves to get things right. Many of us who
work on grouse have experienced DJ as a sharp and keen editor, and
a merciless guardian of correct English language, eager to
eliminate jargon and "waffle". Clearly, DJ´s red ink
can flow
more freely than that of others, but the book
greatly profits from
this talent: David Jenkins'
clear but entertaining style makes
this book even
more recommendable.
Ilse
Storch, January 2004
Jenkins,
D. 2003: Of Partridges & Peacocks