Books can have a major impact in ecology, but academic book publishing brings relatively little financial reward to authors. The Marsh Book of the Year Award acknowledges the important role that books have on ecology and its development. This prize is funded by the Marsh Charitable Trust and is awarded to the book published in the last two years that has had the greatest influence on ecology or its application. The prize is an honorarium of £1,000 and is open to books published anywhere in the world. We usually consider the Marsh Book of the Year Award on an annual basis. The book is selected