The biodiversity crisis : losing what counts / Michael J. Novacek, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Novacek, Michael J.

American Museum of Natural History.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biodiversity.

Biodiversity conservation.

Extinction (Biology).

Physical Description:

223 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New Press : Distributed by W.W. Norton, 2001.

Summary:

The Biodiversity Crisis offers general audiences a clear understanding of the present threat to life on Earth posed by the current mass extinction in Earth's history, which has taken place over the last five hundred years. Unlike prior extinctions, this one is clearly a direct result of human activity, not of natural phenomena. Yet the public remains unaware of the crisis in sustaining biodiversity -- the variety and interdependence of all living things on Earth.

Published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History, whose major Hall of Biodiversity recently opened to great acclaim, the book defines biodiversity and demonstrates its importance to life as we know it. It presents strategies and solutions, including what we can do in our own homes and communities, to stop the escalating rate of species' extinction. It includes essays by experts such as E. O. Wilson, Niles Eldredge, and Peter Raven; profiles of naturalists such as Jane Goodall; and case studies.

Engaging and accessible, The Biodiversity Crisis presents the best scientific thinking in language and images that we can all understand. It is illustrated with photographs and drawings and supplemented with a resource section and a glossary of key terms.

Contents:

Biodiversity: wildlife in trouble / Edward O. Wilson

Profile: Abebe Getahun

What's this biodiversity and what's it done for us today? / Norman Myers

Case study: the Audubon guide to seafood

Deforestation in the tropics / Robert C. Repetto

Biodiversity and human health / Francesca T. Grifo

Profile: Kevin Browngoehl

Biodiversity: what it is and why we need it / Paul R. Ehrlich, Simon A. Levin

Hot spots / David Ehrenfeld

Case study: the Green Guerillas, New York City

What have we lost, what are we losing? / Peter H. Raven

Profile: Amy Vedder

Chemical prospecting: the new natural history / Thomas Eisner

Profile: Dolores R. Santoliquido

Evolution, extinction, and humanity's place in nature / Niles Eldredge

Case study: St. Lucia parrot recovery

Profile: Clare Flemming

The 40,000-year plague: humans, hyperdisease, and first-contact extinctions / Ross D.E. MacPhee, Preston A. Marx

Prehistoric extinctions and ecological changes on Oceanic Islands / Helen F. James

Case study: brown-eyed, milk-giving... and extinct: losing mammals since A.D. 1500

Global warming, loss of habitat, and pollution: introduction to "Thompson's ice corps," "nest gains, nest losses," and "hormonal sabotage" / Kefyn M. Catley

Thompson's ice corps / Mark Bowen

Nest gains, nest losses / Scott K. Robinson

Case study: Lake Victoria

Hormonal sabotage / Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, John Peterson Myers

Case study: reefs in crisis

The new geologic force: man / Fairfield Osborn

Profile: Jane Goodall

Case study: Humpback Whale Conservation Genetics Project, Madagascar

Conservation biology and wildlife management in America: a historical perspective / Curt Meine

Profile: Jaime A. Pinkham

Managing the biosphere: the essential role of systematic biology / Joel Cracraft

Case study: Wilderness Preservation Act, U.S.A.

How to grow a wildland: the gardenification of nature / Daniel H. Janzen

Case study: the Belize Ethnobotany Reserve project

Profile: Penelope Bodry-Sanders

The economic value of earth's resources / Graciela Chichilnisky

Profile: Michael Balick

Case study: Jaguars

Strategies and solutions: mapping the biodiversity / Prashant M. Hedao

Community-based approaches for combining conservation and development / Nick Salafsky

Case study: restoration of the Elwha River by dam removal, Washington

No free lunch in the rain forest / Charles M. Peters.

Notes:

"An American Museum of Natural History book."

ISBN:

1565845706

OCLC:

42692250