THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ORKNEY. By R.J. Berry. New Naturalist No. 70.

1985 1st edn pbk issue. 8vo paperback (149 x 216mm). Pp304. Colour photograph plates, b/w photographs and line illustrations, maps, bibliography.

Essentially an extension of the Caithness Plateau, Orkney lies a mere six miles from the Scottish mainland. Despite this proximity, the archipelago's natural history is interestingly different from that of the mainland. The political and social history differs likewise, the islands, like Shetland, really forming the fringe of Scandinavia. Chapters include: Like sleeping whales - island and peoples, weather, natural history; Biological history - land between Orkney and Caithness?, pattern of vegetation; Rocks - detailed geology, the Ice Ages and after, the coast; habitats and vegetation; Sea and shore; Otters, seals and whales; Freshwater habitats; Terrestrial animals - mammals, lepidoptera, other invertebrates; Birds - changes in status, coastal breeders, moorlands, marshes and lochs, woodland, farmland hen harriers, pressent andfuture; Orkney man - Picts and brochs, the Vikings, life in ancient Orkney, mediaeval and modern Orkney, life in recent centuries, improved communications, agricultural improvements, agricultural practice, mand and the sea, the kelp industry, Orkney future; Orkney naturalists; Conservation, development and the future - oil reclamation, seal-culling, Orkney and radioactivity, fish farming, kelp harvesting, the case for conservation. An appendix lists the species of plant, animal and fungus to be found on Orkney.