From earliest times, human beings have noticed patterns in nature:
night and day, tides and lunar cycles, the changing seasons, plant
succession, and animal migration. While recognizing patterns
conferred great survival advantage, we are now in danger from our
own success in multiplying our numbers and altering those patterns
for our own purposes. It is imperative that we engage again with
the patterns of nature, but this time, with awareness of our impact
as a species. How will burgeoning human populations affect the
health of ecosystems? Is loss of species simply a regrettable
byproduct of human expansion? Or is the planet passing into a new
epoch in just a few human generations? Nature and Human Society
presents a wide-ranging exploration of these and other fundamental
questions about our relationship with the environment. This book
features findings, insights, and informed speculations from key
figures in the field: E.O. Wilson, Thomas Lovejoy, Peter H. Raven,
Gretchen Daily, David Suzuki, Norman Myers, Paul Erlich, Michael
Bean, and many others. This volume explores the accelerated
extinction of species and what we stand to lose?medicines, energy
sources, crop pollination and pest control, the ability of water
and soil to renew itself through biological processes, aesthetic
and recreational benefits?and how these losses may be felt locally
and acutely. What are the specific threats to biodiversity? The
book explores human population growth, the homogenization of biota
as a result in tourism and trade, and other factors, including the
social influences of law, religious belief, and public education.
Do we have the tools to protect biodiversity? The book looks at
molecular genetics, satellite data, tools borrowed from medicine,
and other scientific techniques to firm up our grasp of important
processes in biology and earth science, including the "new" science
of conservation biology. Nature and Human Society helps us renew
our understanding and appreciation for natural patterns, with
surprising details about microorganisms, nematodes, and other
overlooked forms of life: their numbers, pervasiveness, and
importance to the health of the soil, water, and air and to a host
of human endeavors. This book will be of value to anyone who
believes that the world's gross natural product is as important as
the world's gross national product. Table of Contents Front Matter
Introduction Part 1 Defining Biodiversity Barriers to Perception:
From a World of Interconnection to Fragmentation The Creation of
Biodiversity The Dimensions of Life on Earth The Sixth Extinction:
How Large, Where, and When? The Meaning of Biodiversity Loss The
Loss of Population Diversity and Why It Matters Keeping a Finger on
the Pulse of Marine Biodiversity: How Healthy Is It? Countryside
Biogeography and the Provision of Ecosystem Services Part 2 Less
Well-Known Individual Forms of Life Microbial Diversity and the
Biosphere Biodiversity, Classification, and Numbers of Species of
Protists Estimating the Extent of Fungal Diversity in the Tropics
Nematodes: Pervading the Earth and Linking All Life Global
Diversity of Mites Biodiversity of Terrestrial Invertebrates in
Tropical Africa: Assessing the Needs and Plan of Action Global
Diversity of Insects: The Problems of Estimating Numbers Part 3 The
Role of the Group in Biodiversity The World Beneath Our Feet: Soil
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Natural Investment in
Diversity: The Role of Biological Communities in Soil Part 4 Means
to Measure Biodiversity Conservation Biology and the Preservation
of Biodiversity: An Assessment Conservation Genetics: Applying
Molecular Methods to Maximize the Conservation of Taxonomic and
Genetic Diversity Application of Geospatial Information for
Identifying Priority Areas for Biodiversity Conservation Hawaii
Biological Survey: Museum Resources in Support of Conservation
Building the Next-Generation Biological-Information Infrastructure
Part 5 Threats to Sustainability Nature Displaced: Human Population
Trends and Projections and Their Meanings Population Growth,
Sustainable Development, and the Environment Nonindigenous Species
- A Global Threat to Biodiversity and Stability Part 6
Infrastructure for Sustaining Biodiversity - Science Science and
the Public Trust in a Full World: Function and Dysfunction in
Science and the Biosphere The Response of the International
Scientific Community to the Challenge of Biodiversity The
Millennium Seed Bank at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Charting the
Biosphere: Building Global Capacity for Systematics Science Science
and Technology in the Convention on Biological Diversity Ecology
and the Knowledge Revolution Part 7 Infrastructure for Sustaining
Biodiversity - Society Biodiversity: A World Bank Perspective
Creating Cultural Diversity: Tropical Forests Transformed
Endangered Plants, Vanishing Cultures: Ethnobotany and Conservation
Religion and Sustainability Reaching the Public: The Challenge of
Communicating Biodiversity Center for Environmental Research and
Conservation (CERC): A New Multi-Institutional Partnership to
Prepare the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders Natural
Capitalism Part 8 Infrastructure for Sustaining Biodiversity -
Policy Liking Science and Policy: A Research Agenda for Colombian
Biodiversity Sustainability and the Law: An Assessment of the
Endangered Species Act Government Policy and Sustainability of
Biodiversity in Costa Rica National Security, National Interest,
and Sustainability Biodiversity and Organizing for Sustainability
in the United States Government Part 9 Examples of Sustainability
How to Grow a Wildland: The Gardenification of Nature Measures to
Conserve Biodiversity in Sustainable Forestry: The Ro Cndor Project
Chemical Prospecting: The New Natural History Conservation
Medicine: An Emerging Field How Countries with Limited Resources
are Dealing with Biodiversity Problems Biodiversity and Sustainable
Human Development: The Costa Rican Agenda The National Biodiversity
Information System of Mexico Community Involvement and
Sustainability: The Malpai Borderlands Effort Index
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