Peter A. Henderson is Director of Pisces Conservation Ltd, an independent ecological consultancy and software house based in Southampton, UK. In addition, he lectures and holds the position of Senior Research Associate in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK. He is an ecological consultant and research scientist with 40 years' experience combining theoretical, applied, and field research, with extensive experience of the management of major ecological assessment projects including preparation and presentation of material for public enquires and liaising with conservation bodies and engineers. Projects he has undertaken include conservation planning for large tropical nature reserves, ecological effects studies of nuclear power station intakes, conservation studies of rare freshwater life and effects of climate change and drought.

Sir Richard Southwood (1931-2005) was a British biologist, Professor of Zoology and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, UK. The title of the 5th edition honours his memory as the original author of this landmark textbook, the original edition of which was first published in 1965.

• Preface to Fifth Edition, 2020


• Preface to Fourth Edition, 2015


• Preface to Third Edition, 1998


• 1: Introduction to the Study of Animals


• 2: The Sampling Programme and the Measurement and Description of Dispersion


• 3: Absolute Population Estimates Using Capture-Recapture Experiments


• 4: Absolute Population Estimates by Sampling a Unit of Habitat -Air, Plants, Plant Products and Vertebrate Hosts


• 5: Absolute Population Estimates by Sampling a Unit of Aquatic Habitat


• 6: Absolute Population Estimates by Sampling a Unit of Soil or Litter Habitat-Extraction Techniques


• 7: Relative Methods of Population Measurement and the Derivation of Absolute Estimates


• 8: Estimates of Species Richness and Population Size Based on Signs, Products and Effects


• 9: Wildlife Population Estimates by Census and Distance Measuring Techniques


• 10: Observational and Experimental Methods to Estimate Natality, Mortality, Movement and Dispersal


• 11: The Construction, Description and Analysis of Age-Specific Life-Tables


• 12: Age-Grouping, Time-Specific Life-Tables and Predictive Population


• 13: Species Richness, Diversity and Packing


• 14: The Estimation of Productivity and the Construction of Energy Budgets


• 15: Techniques for the Study of Long-Term Dynamics-Analysing Time Series


• 16: Studies at Large Spatial Scales, Citizen Science and the Classification of Habitats