Life in the balance : humanity and the biodiversity crisis / Niles Eldredge ; illustrations by Patricia Wynne
- Bib ID:
- 1864980
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Eldredge, Niles
- Online Version:
- Table of contents
Broken link? let us search Trove , the Wayback Machine , or Google for you.
- Related Online Resources:
- Publisher description
Broken link? let us search Trove , the Wayback Machine , or Google for you.
- Description:
-
- Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1998
- xv, 224 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
- ISBN:
-
- 0691001251 (alkaline paper) (cloth)
- 0691050090 (paperback)
- Summary:
-
"Botswana's Okavango Delta is considered by many to be one of the last "Edens" left on Earth. There a rich assortment of organisms exist in natural equilibrium."--BOOK JACKET. "The same insults in microcosm - encroaching agriculture, water diversion, disease, and pollution - threaten the Okavango that in macrocosm threaten the entire planet. Starting with a sensual journey by plane and boat, Eldredge leads a reader first to the very heart of the Okavango, and then on a tour of Earth's organisms - animals, plants, fungi, and the microbes which underpin all of life - and ecosystems in which these organisms earn their living - from the tundra to the tropics. It is a journey that reveals the twin faces of biodiversity (the 13 million extant species and the ecosystems through which these species transform and exchange the Sun's energy) and the value of biodiversity to the Biosphere as a whole and to our own continued human existence."--BOOK JACKET.
"Eldredge's tour ends at the Panama Canal, the site of one of humankind's greatest achievements, where, if only by necessity, practical solutions to maintaining biodiversity's delicate balance have been successfully implemented. If his message is not entirely pessimistic, it is not entirely hopeful either. There are a number of difficult actions we must take as a global society if we are to stem an impending Sixth Extinction, and Eldredge outlines these steps in detail."--BOOK JACKET.
- Full contents:
-
- Preface: The Biodiversity Crisis
- Ch. 1. Tales from the Swamp. Pt. I. The Biodiversity Crisis in Microcosm. Pt. II. The Ok Avango as Primordial Eden
- Ch. 2. Biodiversity, Evolution, and Ecology
- Ch. 3. The Tree of Life
- Ch. 4. Ecosystem Panorama
- Ch. 5. Biodiversity - A Threatened Natural Treasure
- Ch. 6. Striking a Balance
- App. I. Animal Species Extinct Since Circa 1600
- App. II. Essential Microbes, Fungi, Animals, and Plants.
- Preface: The Biodiversity Crisis
- Ch. 1. Tales from the Swamp. Pt. I. The Biodiversity Crisis in Microcosm. Pt. II. The Ok Avango as Primordial Eden
- Ch. 2. Biodiversity, Evolution, and Ecology
- Ch. 3. The Tree of Life
- Ch. 4. Ecosystem Panorama
- Ch. 5. Biodiversity - A Threatened Natural Treasure
- Ch. 6. Striking a Balance
- App. I. Animal Species Extinct Since Circa 1600
- App. II. Essential Microbes, Fungi, Animals, and Plants.
- Notes:
-
- "A Peter N. Nevraumont book."
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [216]-218) and index.
- Subject:
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1998
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.