Life in the Balance: Humanity and the Biodiversity CrisisIn Life in the Balance, Niles Eldredge argues that the Earth is confronting a disaster in the making--an ecological crisis that, if left unresolved, could ultimately lead to mass extinction on the scale of that which killed the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. Writing for general readers, he reviews compelling evidence for this "biodiversity crisis," showing that species are dying out at an unnaturally rapid rate. He demonstrates the importance of maintaining biodiversity, taking the reader on a journey that reveals the twin faces of biodiversity--over thirteen million living species and the ecosystems through which these species transform the sun's energy into life-sustaining matter. Throughout, Eldredge shows how our own fate is intricately linked with that of other species. |
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... ecology . I. Title . QH75.E58 1998 333.95 - dc21 97-52087 Princeton University Press books are printed on acid - free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book ...
... ECOLOGY p . 49 Chapter 3 THE TREE OF LIFE p . 67 Chapter 4 ECOSYSTEM PANORAMA p . 113 Chapter 5 BIODIVERSITY — A THREATENED NATURAL TREASURE p . 143 Chapter 6 STRIKING A BALANCE p . 177 Appendix I ANIMAL SPECIES EXTINCT SINCE CIRCA 1600 ...
... ecological aspect of bio- diversity — the vast spectrum of ecological systems ranging from the polar ice caps with relatively few species to the forests and grasslands of the Trop- ics , which teem with species . Life clings to the ...
... ecological distur- bance and are a side effect of the growth and spread of human populations around the globe . These activities of a human society based on agriculture and high technology have accounted for the growing loss of species ...
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Contents
TALES FROM THE SWAMP | xiii |
THE OKAVANGO AS PRIMORDIAL EDEN | 20 |
BIODIVERSITY EVOLUTION AND ECOLOGY | 45 |
THE TREE OF LIFE | 63 |
ECOSYSTEMPANORAMA | 109 |
BIODIVERSITYA THREATENED NATURAL TREASURE | 139 |
STRIKING A BALANCE | 173 |
Appendix i ANIMAL SPECIES EXTINCT SINCE CIRCA 1600 | 191 |
Appendix ii ESSENTIAL MICROBES FUNGI ANIMALS AND PLANTS | 202 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SUGGESTED READINGS | 210 |
INDEX | 213 |