Book Reviews

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 102, NO. 8, 25 APRIL 2012 1213 some of the figures cited are still impressive in terms of richness. It is said that more than 30% of the flowering plants recorded from the entire country is found in Sikkim and 40% of the total avifauna of the country uses Sikkim as its habitat. Although entomology, in general, is a relatively ignored field, as many as 5892 species of insects have been recorded from Sikkim. The information given in this book indeed comprises a significant source for researchers, managers, conservation specialists and policy makers at large. The multi-taxa information presented is important since the focus of conservation biologists is not primarily on the persistence of a single species, but on all forms of extant life. The book with an impressive coverage of information in one compact form could, however, be better presented for future use as a source material. It is really surprising not to see references listed either as part of each article or in a consolidated form at the end of the book. Thus the value of the book as a scientific source has been diminished by omission of the reference section. Further, the book is not user-friendly due to its form and size. It is too bulky, heavy (about 3 kg in weight) to carry around and difficult to read. It also seems that the sequence of articles and presentation were not adequately planned. There is an issue of repetition on describing Sikkim in almost all the articles. This has resulted in substantial duplication of information. Likewise, there is an issue of consistency in quality and content of the articles. Some of the articles are more systematically presented with good science, while the others are generic. In addition, there is no consistency in the coverage of in-depth studies to represent the entire state; articles have either considered one or two protected areas, or have covered a few focus species or a group of species. Effectiveness of various protected areas in encompassing and maintaining biodiversity has not been discussed. The book thus may be only a source of preliminary, though important, information for policy inputs; more comprehensive research and management plans for managing protected areas, forests and other resources of the state will be required. The book has an enormous amount of data on biodiversity of the state which could lead to developing a comprehensive database having information on species distribution, locality, status and uses. Nevertheless, as a whole, the book makes a good attempt to reconcile diverse and scattered biodiversity-related scientific information together and I am sure that, for those interested in conducting research in this state on conservation, this volume is a ‘one-stop shop’ and is worth purchasing for the library shelf.