Product Description
The Earth's biodiversity-the rich variety of life on our planet-is disappearing at an alarming rate. And while many books have focused on the expected ecological consequences, or on the aesthetic, ethical, sociological, or economic dimensions of this loss, Sustaining Life is the first book to examine the full range of potential threats that diminishing biodiversity poses to human health.

Edited and written by Harvard Medical School physicians Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, along with more than 100 leading scientists who contributed to writing and reviewing the book, Sustaining Life presents a comprehensive--and sobering--view of how human medicines, biomedical research, the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, and the production of food, both on land and in the oceans, depend on biodiversity. The book's ten chapters cover everything from what biodiversity is and how human activity threatens it to how we as individuals can help conserve the world's richly varied biota. Seven groups of organisms, some of the most endangered on Earth, provide detailed case studies to illustrate the contributions they have already made to human medicine, and those they are expected to make if we do not drive them to extinction. Drawing on the latest research, but written in language a general reader can easily follow, Sustaining Life argues that we can no longer see ourselves as separate from the natural world, nor assume that we will not be harmed by its alteration. Our health, as the authors so vividly show, depends on the health of other species and on the vitality of natural ecosystems.

With a foreword by E.O. Wilson and a prologue by Kofi Annan, and more than 200 poignant color illustrations, Sustaining Life contributes essential perspective to the debate over how humans affect biodiversity and a compelling demonstration of the human health costs. It is the winner of the Gerald L. Young Book Award in Human Ecology Best Sci-Tech Books of 2008 for Biology by Gregg Sapp of Library Journal ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity
This book is a must for anyone who cares about our world and what we as a collective people are doing to it.When one looks around and sees what devastations there are due to such things as global warming, deforestation, destruction of ecosytems and many other changes, it is easy to see why we MUST preserve and revere what remains of all forms of life on our planet.

Editor Dr. Eric Chivian lays out for us the myriad ways in which we should revere our planet.For instance, polar bears do not go into hybernation when in captivity yet they do in the wild.Humans could never go as long as bears do without the simple process of releaving our bladders, or we'd die!As an amateur zoologist -- it all goes back to my undergrad days of studying Field and Systematic Vertebrate Zoolong in college -- I have always been interested in what goes on this planet, and am an avid fan of not only Dr. Chivian but the other writers and editors of this book.

I would also like to give a quick shout out to the PBS NewsHour, for if it wasn't for an interview with Dr. Chivian, I would never have known about this book.

Sustaining Life : a breakthrough publication
The recent publication of Sustaining Life, edited by Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, is an immensely valuable and timely addition to the growing body of literature in support of a One Health approach. This volume should stand as key testimony to the core value of biodiversity in maintaining the health of the planet and all life that depends on it, including humans, and should supersede political agendas that depend only on aesthetics as an argument for conservation.Best of all, this highly readable and beautifully illustrated text appeals to both science and non-science educated people and should be recommended reading for all who care about the future of our earth.

Inspiring
Educational and intesting.Includes excellent discussion on biodiversity and ecosystems, and ties these into topics from medicines and human health to food and farming.Finally it closes with a discussion on what people can do.Clear explanations, good list of references and further reading.

Crucially important
Wow!What a comprehensive piece of work.I believe "Sustaining Life" will prove to be one of the most important books of the 21st century.

I lead a small, volunteer-run conservation organization.Our objective is to educate the public about our local fauna and flora, to get them outdoors and to inspire an appreciation for wildlife and an understanding of their habitat needs.We emphasize tolerance for wild animals which increasingly come into conflict with us, as our own population expands and development marches onward.

Early on in this work, however, it became evident to me that the average person does not see much intrinsic value to wildlife, nor believes that other species have any inherent right to occupy space on this planet. Instead, people want to know how they themselves might benefit, (beyond aesthetics and recreational opportunities), from protecting wildlife and their habitats.Why limit our own expansion for the benefit of wildlife?Why not shoot the coyote who took a lamb, the fisher that snatched a cat, the fox who snuck off with a chicken, or the groundhog who eats in a vegetable garden?Why spend money on protective fencing, guard animals, or land conservation?"What's in it for me?" they want to know.

So, I decided I needed to learn the answers to these questions: to learn more about how biodiversity benefits people.I found this book and read it cover to cover.It is full of detailed examples of what Nature does for us, why all species, from fungi to polar bears, are important for our own survival, how healthy ecosystems ensure clean water and clean air, how countless individual species provide for our food production and medical treatments, and how a loss of biodiversity has, time and again, resulted in outbreaks of human infectious disease.There are many concrete examples in this book that I can use in my own work with the public, to help them understand why tolerating wildlife and protecting habitat are important for their own existence, and that of their children and grand children to come.Exactly what I needed.

This book is well organized and beautifully put together with stunning photos.It is written well enough to be read cover to cover, and valuable as a resource to which I will frequently refer.It assumes no detailed scientific knowledge on the part of the reader, as many technical terms are defined.However, it is densely packed with information and would probably be a very challenging read for someone who lacks a strong science background.

I do have one criticism.The editors occasionally make reference to the destructive effects of human overpopulation, but seem satisfied to give the subject only brief mention and then to quickly turn away from it.Well, it is certainly safer to tiptoe around this extremely important taboo of a topic, but it felt to me to be a cop out.After all, they argue that we need to preserve the world's flora and fauna so that we can develop more and better treatments for human illnesses.But what is the result of all that resource intensive medical research and treatment if not reduced human mortality and increased human population?

Even with the current human population, it may not be possible for us to live sustainably enough to halt the current extinction crisis, while at the same time provide people with better medical care.The editors present a graph on p. 408 which shows that in order for people to live sustainably, based on the 2001 human population, each person's ecological footprint would have to be, on average, only slightly higher than that of the average African, tens of thousands of whom receive no medical care at all. In light of this, I was disappointed that the editors avoided direct discussion of the need to maintain our own population at a lower level, and neglected to include, in their otherwise very helpful chapter entitled "What Individuals Can Do to Help Conserve Biodiversity", a suggestion that couples consider having only one or two children.

Nonetheless, I still think this book is outstanding.No other book that I could find addresses so comprehensively how important other species are for our own continued existence.I am deeply grateful to Drs. Chivian and Bernstein for taking on the enormous task of putting together this magnificent volume.

A must have for conservationists and general public (and cheap!!)
First the more practical stuff. I think the book is very cheap, because I found for a much higher price somewhere else, but also because of its size and print quality (I expected something smaller). And it arrived very fast (I got super-fast shipping for free).
Now the book. I like that it has a lot of figures. I'm a scientist and usually have to read long, black and white papers, with only formal figures. Adding figures to text books is not cheap, but is makes is much more reader-friendly. Also, it is written in a non-scientific language so that anybody can read it, and it explains all necessary scientific terms. This might be a bit boring for those familiar with terminology, but I think its better that way, because this is NOT a scientific text book, it aims to reach wider audiences. thus, it has ''basic'' chapters on what biodiversity is and why is it threatened. Still, the book is essential for conservationists. It contains many hard data on why biological conservation is not just something we should promote because of aesthetic or recreational purposes but because of live and dead issues such as medical research and disease spreading. I would have liked though more than the seven groups of living organism that were reviewed in this book, for example fungi.
This book is somehow a mixture of scientific data with general environmental education. Something I will use for my work and also to share with my friends and (future) children.
... Read more

Product Description
Life on earth is wildly diverse, but the future of that diversity is now in question. Through environmentally destructive farming practices, ever-expanding energy use, and the development and homogenization of land, human beings are responsible for unprecedented reductions in the variety of life forms around us. Estimates suggest that species extinctions caused by humans occur at up to 1,000 times the natural rate, and that one of every twenty species on the planet could be eradicated by 2060. "An Ethics of Biodiversity" argues that these facts should inspire careful reflection and action in Christian churches, which must learn from earth's vast diversity in order to help conserve the natural and social diversity of our planet. Bringing scientific data into conversation with theological tradition, the book shows that biodiversity is a point of intersection between faith and ethics, social justice and environmentalism, science and politics, global problems and local solutions."An Ethics of Biodiversity" offers a set of tools for students, environmentalists, and people of faith to think critically about how human beings can live with and as part of the variety of life in God's creation. ... Read more

Product Description
Unweaving the Web of Destruction

The continuing devastation of the world’s tropical rain forest affects us all—spurring climate change, decimating biodiversity, and wrecking our environment’s resiliency. Millions of worried people around the world want to do whatever it takes to save the forest that is left.

But halting rain forest destruction means understanding what is driving it.

In Breakfast of Biodiversity, John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto insightfully describe the ways in which such disparate factors as the international banking system, modern agricultural techniques, rain forest ecology, and the struggles of the poor interact to bring down the forest. They weave an alternative vision in which democracy, sustainable agriculture, and land security for the poor are at the center of the movement to save the tropical environment.

This new, fully updated edition of Breakfast of Biodiversity discusses important new developments in our understanding of rain forest biology and assesses the impacts of a decade of "free" trade on the rain forest and on those who live in and around it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent book, TERRIBLE binding!
This book is an excellent overview of the issues that cause rainforest deforestation, and gives an idea of the overall complexity facing conservation efforts on every level worldwide.Highly recommended.

The binding is, however, awful!Hard, with no give.During the first read through I broke the binding about a third of the way through.I was very careful after that, but about two-thirds of the way through, while reviewing some concepts, the binding broke again.When I say broke, I mean, completely broke to the point where the pages are coming out.I've owned this book for just a few weeks, and have gone through it twice.I've never seen a binding like this, and implore the publisher to reconsider this binding-type, it is awful!

A Key Explanation of Rain Forest Destruction and Appropriate Counteraction
This is a powerful and concise book.Within the book are the equations and succinct explanations of for example, how the demand for bananas causes long term cycles of forest destruction as workers immigrate intobanana production areas and eventually are forced out of plantation workwith the only option of clearing additional forest for their own survival.

The authors also make a clear presentation of the problems of small pristine tropical park reserves in a sea of agriculture showing reduction of biodiversity as compared to landscapes that may be less pristine from mild to moderate farming and logging having more sustainable biodiversity.Here the argument is presented that less intensive agriculture (shade coffee,small plot farming) may both diminish poverty and loss of biodiversity.

Other books that relate well to the subject of social justice and biodiversity preservation are: The Burning Season: The Murder of Chico Mendes and the Fight for the Amazon Rain Forest by Andrew Revkin; Requiem for Nature by John Terboough; and Contested Nature: Protecting International Biodiversity and Social Justice in the Twenty-First Century by Steven Brechin.

Sobering but empowering analysis
"Breakfast of Biodiversity" by John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto is a critical analysis of the myriad forces that are driving the destruction of the world's tropical rain forests, with particular emphasis on Central America where the authors have been engaged for many years of hands-on research and field work. The authors write in this, the 2005 second edition about the important insights and lessons that have been learned since the book's first edition published in 1995. Presenting knowledge gained through both scholarly research and their own practical experiences, the authors help us understand that narrowly-focused solutions to solving environmental problems will inevitably come up wanting in the absence of wider, more meaningful socio-political changes. The result is a sobering but ultimately empowering text that allows us to better understand both the challenge and the promise of saving the earth's remaining rain forests.

The authors explain how rain forests are neither fragile nor stable, discussing how rain forests can recover relatively quickly from short-term disruptions such as clear-cut logging operations but can suffer long-lasting damage from industrial agriculture and, of course, urbanization. We come to appreciate the wide variety of rain forest types as well as their common characteristics, shedding light on how humans might be able to make better strategic use of the land and live in harmony with the rain forest.

The idea that managing land under cultivation in a sustainable and socially equitable manner appears to be a surprisingly effective proposal when compared with the oftentimes ineffective method of land conservation that has often been favored by mainstream environmental groups. In fact, the authors compare the fate of rain forest lands over time to make their point: in Nicaragua, more rain forest had been saved as a result of the progressive land redistribution policies of the Sandinista government that in Costa Rica, where market forces have compelled the poor to convert so-called protected areas of the rain forest to farmland. Unfortunately, when the Sandinistas lost power in the 1990s, the neoliberal policies favored by the succeeding administration quickly unraveled these gains and resulted once again in an accelerated loss of rain forest lands.

However, the authors are hopeful that the anti-globalization movement can help to unravel the dense web that connects international capital with third world indebtedness, arguing that if inequality can be minimized then the poverty that drives desperate people into the rain forest can be curtailed. Therefore, the authors hope that their book will compel environmentalists to unite with social and political activists in an united effort to call for meaningful change in the world economic system. While this may be a tall order, the penetrating analysis contained in this exceptional book suggests that such a strategy is the only credible solution to solving one of humankind's most formidable problems.

I highly recommend this accessible, informative and enlightening book to everyone.

Breakfast of biodiversity+ lunch and dinner too!
A slim volume that pack a punch.It highlights the global nature of the problem, stressing that rainforests can and indeed do regenerate, but not if the disturbance is too great.
Food insecurity and lack of land tenure are cited as important driving forces, and conventional, purist models of conservation, while satisfying the hopes and desires of lobbies in the wealthy developed world, fail to address the human dilammas that are so important.
A 'Political Ecological Strategy' if offered as a solution that takes heed of all the strands of the 'web of destruction' both in a local and a global context, and although not suggesting that the future is 'rosy', it does offer a glimmer of hope.
A book to be thoroughly recommended to all those who are interested in the future of the rainforest, its people and the planet.An excellent read.

thought-provoking
Wonderfully researched, if sometimes dryly written. If you like this book, then you'll likely find something interesting in the coffee-table book, Costa Rica: The Last Country the Gods Made.

The essays, " New Conservation in the Costa Rican Parks System" and "House Made of Rain" touch on many of the things discussed in Vandermeer's text. ... Read more

Product Description
Communities of microscopic plant life, or phytoplankton, dominate the Earth's aquatic ecosystems. This important new book by Colin Reynolds covers the adaptations, physiology and population dynamics of phytoplankton communities in lakes and rivers and oceans. It provides basic information on composition, morphology and physiology of the main phyletic groups represented in marine and freshwater systems and in addition reviews recent advances in community ecology, developing an appreciation of assembly processes, co-existence and competition, disturbance and diversity. Although focussed on one group of organisms, the book develops many concepts relevant to ecology in the broadest sense, and as such will appeal to graduate students and researchers in ecology, limnology and oceanography. ... Read more

Product Description
This book focuses on introduced plant species: their origins and impacts on native vegetation and ecosystems as well as the potential for their control. Aimed at advanced students and land managers concerned with plant community conservation, it includes practical explanations, case studies and an introduction to basic techniques for evaluating the impacts of invasive plants. ... Read more

Product Description
Corridor Ecology presents guidelines that combine conservation science and practical experience for maintaining, enhancing, and creating connectivity between natural areas with an overarching goal of conserving biodiversity. It offers an objective, carefully interpreted review of the issues and is a one-of-a-kind resource for scientists, landscape architects, planners, land managers, decision-makers, and all those working to protect and restore landscapes and species diversity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Corridor Ecology
I highly recommend Corridor Ecology for anyone who is interested in corridors, land fragmentation, and species conservation.It is the most comprehensive literature I have come across in terms of the role of corridors, corridor design and implementation.As a current graduate student working on a corridor project, this book has been incredibly helpful in planning my field work in ground truthingLeast-Cost path corridors.Especially the chapter, Corridor Quality: Continuity, Composition, and Dimension.It has really helped me understand better how to evaluate potential corridors. My advisor has been so impressed with the book that she is going to order some for the library and a biodiversity center that is being set up at campus.I also feel that this would be an excellent text for conservation courses as it covers issues such as metapopulation theory, edge effects and focal species considerations.The book also covers issues and potential problems that need to be dealt with when designing a corridor, which is very valuable.I also think this would be a excellent source for land management agencies and the Department of Transportation to utilize. The authors do an excellent job in bringing together all aspect of corridor ecology by utilizing the most current literature, valuable study cases along with their incredible field and research experience.

Tanya Diamond
M.S. Candidate
San Jose State University

... Read more

Product Description
Human induced development activities are introduced with insufficient attention to their consequences for our living environment, even in cases where environmental assessments have been carried out. This apparent lack of attention to biodiversity in environmental assessment is rooted in the difficulties we have in adequately addressing biodiversity within the scope, time frame and budget allocated for assessments. This book provides a conceptual background and practical approaches to overcome these difficulties. It integrates the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, its ecosystem approach, and the conceptual framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment into a comprehensive approach to biodiversity in environmental assessment. It highlights the need to consider the value of biodiversity based on its use by each stakeholder, addresses the importance of both social and economic development to reach the Millennium Development Goals, and provides insights into ways to balance present and future needs. ... Read more

Product Description
Where the eastern and western currents of American life merge as smoothly as one river flows into another is a place called Nebraska. There we find the Platte, a river that gave sustenance to the countless migrants who once trudged westward along the Mormon and Oregon trails. We find the Sandhills, a vast region of sandy grassland that represents the largest area of dunes and the grandest and least disturbed region of mixed-grass prairies in all the Western Hemisphere. And, below it all, we find the Ogallala aquifer, the largest potential source of unpolluted water anywhere.

These ecological treasures are all part of the nature of Nebraska. With characteristic clarity, energy, and charm, Paul A. Johnsgard guides us through Nebraska's incredible biodiversity, introducing us to each ecosystem and the flora and fauna it sustains and inviting us to contemplate the purpose and secrets of the natural world as we consider our own roles and responsibilities in our connection with it.

Paul A. Johnsgard is Foundation Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and winner of several state and national writing awards for his books. He is the author of more than forty books, including Prairie Dog Empire: A Saga of the Shortgrass Prairie, Crane Music: A Natural History of American Cranes, and This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills, all available from the University of Nebraska Press. ... Read more

Product Description
Outlines the central processes that characterize terrestrial ecosystems, tracing the flow of water, carbon, and nutrients from their abiotic origins to their cycles through plants, animals, and decomposer organisms. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
Book was received as listed. In new condition with speedy delivery. I would recommend this seller.

Book review
Item condition is perfect as described by seller. However, book is very confusing and hard to study from.

good stuff
Great book on basic terrestrial ecology.If you are an ecology major, you should get this book!

Essential for ecology
This textbook is excellent for life science students who want to approach ecology from the point of view of ecosystem functioning. A precise and clear systematic description of ecosystems organisazion is given, from physiology to complex communities organization. It also focuses on the emrgence of new functions and features every time the complexity level increases, which is essential to have a full systematic comprehension of ecosystems. Underlying physical-chemical processes are always taken into considaration, which contributes to easily understand all the general aspects of ecosystem functions. A must read.

good for the ecosystem ecologist in everyone
a technical book written for ecosystem ecologists but easy to read.I had to get it for a class, but it was well put-together and organized. ... Read more

Product Description
Widely regarded as the most captivating, accessible, and comprehensive text for undergraduate marine biology courses, Jeffrey S. Levinton's Marine Biology: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology, Third Edition, examines marine biology from a unique global and evolutionary perspective. Written in a clear, conversational style, this highly acclaimed volume emphasizes the principles and processes that underlie--and unify--vastly different marine communities.

NEW TO THE THIRD EDITION


· Full-Color Format: Captures the vibrancy of marine environments in a stunning new full-color presentation. Features photographs from the world's finest marine biologists and more than sixty new line drawings. All color images are integrated directly into the body of the text.


· More Real-World Applications: Presents many new "Hot Topics in Marine Biology" essays, each highlighting new developments and real-world applications. Also includes engaging discussions of human impacts on oceans, fisheries, and global climate change.


· Current and Expanded Topics: Places students on the cutting-edge with the latest in marine biology research, including updated coverage of molecular biology, the coral reef crisis, deep sea biology, bioluminescence, polar oceans, remote sensing techniques, overfishing, microbiology, and ocean warming and acidification.


· Enhanced Pedagogy: Concludes each chapter with a bulleted "Chapter Summary"--an entirely new feature of this edition. "Going Deeper" text boxes provide students with opportunities for further exploration. Full-sentence summary statements begin each chapter section, keeping students focused on the "big picture" as they read.

COMPANION WEBSITE
Maintained by the author, this comprehensive tool provides a multitude of aids for students and instructors.
Student Resources


· "Marine Biology Explorations": An interactive tour that guides students through nine different marine habitats. Features more than 450 annotated photographs!


· News Updates: Recent breakthroughs and news from the field


· Extensive Web Links: Useful links to websites containing research literature and career information, as well as links to worldwide marine laboratory sites


· Summary and Review Aids (also available in the text)

Instructor Resources (available to adopters of the text and password-protected)


· Downloadable Electronic Images: All illustrations from the text available for lecture preparation


· PowerPoint Lecture Notes: More than 400 lecture notes slides, all organized by chapter


· Test Bank*: Approximately 400 questions--written by the author--in editable Microsoft Word files (*available only on the Instructor's Resource CD-ROM: contact your Oxford University Press sales representative for details) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I think it's not original issue
When i get the book really dissapointed. Since the pages are not glossy paper and the cover does not have a hologram sticker, the book's originality is suspicious. Haven't look into yet but hope to be not dissapointed with the context too!

Marine Biology 101
I was disappointed in this book. It is basically a college level textbook, inclusive but dry. Not a book to inspire, rather one to cram from for your next exam ... Read more

Product Description

The Historical Ecology Handbook makes essential connections between past and future ecosystems, bringing together leading experts to offer a much-needed introduction to the field of historical ecology and its practical application by on-the-ground restorationists.

Chapters present individual techniques focusing on both culturally derived evidence and biological records, with each chapter offering essential background, tools, and resources needed for using the technique in a restoration effort. The book ends with four in-depth case studies that demonstrate how various combinations of techniques have been used in restoration projects.

The Historical Ecology Handbook is a unique and groundbreaking guide to determining historic reference conditions of a landscape. It offers an invaluable compendium of tools and techniques, and will be essential reading for anyone working in the field of ecological restoration.

Product Description
Human well-being relies critically on ecosystem services provided by nature. Examples include water and air quality regulation, nutrient cycling and decomposition, plant pollination and flood control, all of which are dependent on biodiversity. They are predominantly public goods with limited or no markets and do not command any price in the conventional economic system, so their loss is often not detected and continues unaddressed and unabated. This in turn not only impacts human well-being, but also seriously undermines the sustainability of the economic system.

It is against this background that TEEB: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project was set up in 2007 and led by the United Nations Environment Programme to provide a comprehensive global assessment of economic aspects of these issues. This book, written by a team of international experts, represents the scientific state of the art, providing a comprehensive assessment of the fundamental ecological and economic principles of measuring and valuing ecosystem services and biodiversity, and showing how these can be mainstreamed into public policies.

This volume and subsequent TEEB outputs will provide the authoritative knowledge and guidance to drive forward the biodiversity conservation agenda for the next decade. ... Read more

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Product Description

Life on Earth: An Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution tackles the critical issue for humanity in the 21st century—our ever more menacing impact on the environment. This two-volume, illustrated set, edited by American Museum of Natural History curator Niles Eldredge, begins with biodiversity, the complex planetary web of life that has emerged through three billion years of evolution. How does it work? And why is its continued health critical to the planet and to ourselves?

More than 50 top scholars examine every form of life from amoebae to elephants, from plankton to whales. But Life on Earth is more than a catalog of species. An A–Z survey explores the myriad ways humanity is diminishing that biodiversity, from industrialization to natural habitat destruction, from overpopulation in the developing world to an unsustainable consumer lifestyle in the West. Life on Earth is the essential reference work for anyone curious about our planet's extraordinary diversity of life and the unprecedented threats it faces.

Product Description
In this steadfast and yet witty guide, biologist John Spicer examines biodiversity, giving the reader an insight into the myriad of organisms that surround us. ... Read more

Product Description
The theme of this book is the distribution of the abundance of organisms in space and time. Its core lies in how local births and deaths are tied to emigration and immigration processes, and how environmental variability at different scales affects population dynamics with stochastic processes and spatial structure.The book shows how elementary analytical tools can be used to understand population fluctuations, synchrony, processes underlying range distributions and community structure and species coexistence, as well as how spatial population dynamics models can be used to understand life history evolution and aspects of evolutionary game theory. ... Read more

Product Description
From the lush forests of Appalachia to the frozen tundra of Alaska, and from the tallgrass prairies of the Midwest to the subtropical rainforests of Hawaii, the United States harbors a remarkable array of ecosystems. These ecosystems in turn sustain an exceptional variety of plant and animal life. For species such as salamanders and freshwater turtles, the United States ranks as the global center of diversity. Among the nation's other unique biological features are California's coast redwoods, the world's tallest trees, and Nevada's Devils Hole pupfish, which survives in a single ten-by-seventy-foot desert pool, the smallest range of any vertebrate animal.

Precious Heritage draws together for the first time a quarter century of information on U.S. biodiversity developed by natural heritage programs from across the country. This richly illustrated volume not only documents those aspects of U.S. biodiversity that are particularly noteworthy, but also considers how our species and ecosystems are faring, what is threatening them, and what is needed to protect the nation's remaining natural inheritance. Above all, Precious Heritage is a celebration of the extraordinary biological diversity of the United States. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Biodiversity
The word biodiversity often conjures up visions of tropical rain forests, and for good reason.They contain more species than anywhere else in the world.But, as this lavishly illustrated and well written book atteststhere is a great deal of biodiversity in the U.S.In fact, U.S. is therichest country in terms of numbers of species for several groupsinclulding freshwater mussels and crayfishes.The authors take us throughthe groups of plants and animals in the U.S. with a combination of naturalhistory descriptions, photographs, maps, and when appropriate, datasummaries.The maps are really noteworthy, because they add a great dealto the book both visually and in terms of understanding the patterns.Thebook is well worthy the cost just for the photos and maps.Later chaptersaddress the patterns of rarity, threats, and protection strategies.Interms of style and content, it rests between David Wilcove's, The Condor'sShadow and Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America:A ConservationAssessment by Taylor Ricketts et al.Precious Heritage belongs on thebookshelves of everyone interested in and concerned about biodiversity inthe U.S.

Excellent for both environemtnalist and professionals
This book should be on the shelf of environmentalist interested in biodiversity as well as professional conservation biologists. The authors provide a well written introduction to our understanding of biodiversityand the ways that we measure it. They also provide overviews of thegeographic trends in biodiversity, the current threats to this diversity,and offer a perspective on the ways that we proactively maintain this"precious heritage". The book also provides a perspective thatallows professional conservation biologists to see their work in a largescale biogeographic framework, and provides some of the data needed toallow scientists to move from writing epitaphs for dying species toproactively conserving diversity. ... Read more

Product Description
As humanity presses down inexorably on the natural world, people debate the extent to which we can save the Earth's millions of different species without sacrificing human economic welfare. But is this argument wise? Must the human and natural worlds be adversaries? In this book, ecologist Michael Rosenzweig finds that ecological science actually rejects such polarization. Instead it suggests that, to be successful, conservation must discover how we can blend a rich natural world into the world of economic activity. This revolutionary, common ground between development and conservation is called reconciliation ecology: creating and maintaining species-friendly habitats in the very places where people live, work, or play. The book offers many inspiring examples of the good results already achieved. The Nature Conservancy, for instance, has a cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense, with more than 200 conservation projects taking place on more than 170 bases in 41 states. In places such as Elgin Air Force Base, the human uses-testing munitions, profitable timbering and recreation--continue, but populations of several threatened species on the base, such as the long-leaf pine and the red-cockaded woodpecker, have been greatly improved. The Safe Harbor strategy of the Fish & Wildlife Service encourages private landowners to improve their property for endangered species, thus overcoming the unintended negative aspects of the Endangered Species Act. And Golden Gate Park, which began as a system of sand dunes, has become, through human effort, a world of ponds and shrubs, waterfowl and trees.Rosenzweig shows that reconciliation ecology is the missing tool of conservation, the practical, scientifically based approach that, when added to the rest, will solve the problem of preserving Earth's species. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Clarion Call For A New, Most Unique, Approach to Saving Earth's Biodiversity
One of our most brilliant, thoughtful, and persuasive, ecologists, Michael Rosenzweig has looked at virtually every major facet of ecology over an illustrative career spanning more than four decades, focusing primarily on evolutionary, population and community ecology. This tremendous range, from studying continent-wide species diversity patterns to understanding community ecology in the surrounding Sonoran (Arizona) desert, and finally, to interpreting major aspects of the fossil record from an ecological perspective, has led to the development of important, often novel, insights not only in ecology, but indeed, for much of evolutionary biology. For example, in the early 1970s, independently of evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen (who would coin the term), Rosenzweig stumbled upon the Red Queen's Hypothesis. In his latest book, "Win-Win Ecology", Rosenzweig is a most infectious optimist, arguing persuasively for a new kind of conservation ecology, reconciliation ecology, that, by striving to strike a balance between humanity's demographic and economic pressures and the desire to save as much of Earth's biodiversity as possible, may become ultimately, the best - if not the sole - means of saving this biodiversity.

Rosenzweig passionately believes it is possible for humanity to live in harmony with nature. Moreover, he offers elegant proof that it is being done now, beginning with a most memorable vignette; discovering an "undersea" restaurant at the Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat, whose adjacent reef has been constructed, offering a new refuge to the port's exceedingly rich coral reef biodiversity. Other memorable tales include the inadvertent construction of sanctuaries for native frogs in southern Arixona courtesy of cattle ranchers, for crocodiles at a Florida power plant, and for a pine forest at a United States Air Force weapons testing range. For Rosenzweig, these, and other notable examples he cites, demonstrate how the science of reconciliation ecology would work; a new form of conservation ecology in which mankind would construct new, artificial habitats to preserve some, if not all, an area's existing biodiversity. Most conservation biology efforts, Rosenzweig notes, fall under reservation ecology: "save the Earth's habitats", with increasing attention also drawn to restoration ecology: restoring some territory back to a more natural status. But he believes both are ultimately doomed to fail if they are the only means of preserving Earth's biodiversity. For both purely esthetic and selfish economic reasons like ecotourism, Rosenzweig believes that reconciliation ecology may prove to be more effective than reservation ecology and restoration ecology (But he also recognizes that we shouldn't throw out the baby with the bath water; that both reservation ecology and restoration ecology will still have ample importance in preserving our planet's still rich biodiversity.).

Most of the latter half of "Win-Win Ecology" is devoted to the science behind the species-area relationship, which, ecologically astute readers may recognize, led eventually to the development of the theory of equilibrium island biogeography back in the mid 1960s by Rosenzweig's doctoral dissertation advisor, ecologist Robert MacArthur and systematist and biogeographer Edward O. Wilson. Here Rosenzweig offers persuasive mathematical reasoning demonstrating as to why reservation ecology is insufficient towards preserving our planet's biodiversity. The mathematics he employs is simple, quite lucid, and should be easily understandable to anyone with a good foundation in arithmetic. He also reminds us that extinction is the ultimate fate of all species; a point stated with utmost eloquence by his late colleague, eminent vertebrate paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson, who noted that our planet is a "charnel house of species".And he stresses this point by referring to some of the great mass extinctions known in the past five hundred fifty-odd million years of Earth's biological history, most notably the terminal Permian mass extinction from approximately two hundred forty million years ago, where upwards of 97% of known species became extinct.

Rosenzweig hasn't offered us the golden elixir of truth that will solve our ongoing crisis in protecting and preserving much of Earth's biodiversity. But he has offered a most fascinating solution to our problem, and one that's well-reasoned, and well-stated in clear, extremely lucid, prose. Without question, "Win - Win Ecology" demands a wider readership, especially amongst the scientifically literate audience - and the general public - for whom this book ought to be required reading.

Inspiration amidst depression.
This book inspires you to look at your surroundings and make changes that improve the welfare of the living world around you. However, it states the cold equations of our increasing destruction, and explains what the future is likely to bring if we don't immediately start working for a better world.

Plants and animals used to be able to move to new habitats during periods of climate change -- today we've locked them into too-small reserves and they have nowhere to go except extinct during the current warming trend. That's why we must work hard at making our cities (where most of us live) as hospitable as possible for other living creatures. ... Read more

Product Description
Invasive alien species are a major and growing threat to biodiversity worldwide. The transport of organisms through increased levels of trade and tourism is leading to the widespread breaching of natural biogeographic barriers at unprecedented rates. Consequences can be severe, especially in naturally isolated ecosystems. Invasive alien species can cause the extinction of vulnerable endemic species, alter the structure and composition of communities, disrupt successional pathways, and lead to the loss of ecosystem services. Global climate change may further exacerbate the spread of alien species, as climatic zones shift and potential ranges alter.

The effective management of invasive alien species is clearly a priority for biological conservation worldwide. This book first provides strategies for managing such species at successive invasion stages, from prevention at the border to control of major infestations. It then describes the general tools and approaches that are recommended for successful management of particular groups of invasive organisms in a range of environments. In each case, the ecological basis and practical requirements of invasive alien species management are addressed.

This integration of proven techniques and policies will be useful to a wide readership of students, academics, conservation practitioners, invasive species managers, legislators, and to the broader community concerned with biological conservation. ... Read more