Biodiversity
Biodiversity: Why should we work to preserve the variety of species?

With almost 2 million different species on our planet, it might seem okay to lose a few. But thanks to decades of biological research, we know there are amazing benefits that we and other organisms get from the diversity of life. Some benefits are obvious and others less so. Check out the articles in this section to gain insights into new advances in biodiversity research so that you can make your own informed decisions.


diversity of species

NEW! Discovering Amazing Life in the Deep Sea by Steven Haddock
Urban Coyotes by John A. Shivik
Birds: What Can They Tell Us About Our Planet? by Paul R. Schmidt
The Foja Mountains of Indonesia: Exploring the Lost World by Bruce M. Beehler
Planetary Biodiversity Inventories: A Response to the Taxonomic Crisis by Lawrence M. Page
Agroforestry and the Maintenance of Biodiversity by Peter Bichier
Plant Genebanks: Food Security by Geoffrey C. Hawtin and Jeremy Cherfas
Ring Species: Unusual Demonstrations of Speciation by Darren E. Irwin
Speciation and Biodiversity by Edward O. Wilson
The Weight of a Petal: The Value of Botanical Gardens by H. Bruce Rinker
Biopiracy: The Legal Perspective by Michael A. Gollin
Species, Speciation and the Environment by Niles Eldredge
Searching for Nature's Medicines by Mark J. Plotkin

endangered species

NEW! Understanding and Protecting Marine Vertebrates Using Electronic Tracking Tags by Daniel Costa
Sea Turtles: Ancient Creatures with Modern Problems by Kate L. Mansfield
Climate Change Threatens Penguins by Shaye Wolf
Polar Bears and Climate Change by Andrew E. Derocher
Pygmy Rabbits in Peril in the U.S.A. by Lisa Shipley
Why Do We Need an Amphibian Ark? by Kevin Zippel
How Will the Sixth Extinction Affect Evolution of Species? by Norman Myers and Andrew Knoll

invasive species

Environmental Impacts of Marine Exotics by James T. Carlton
Introduced Species: The Threat to Biodiversity & What Can Be Done by Daniel Simberloff

management and conservation

What Do We Do with Too Many White-tailed Deer? by Thomas P. Rooney
The Future of Marine Fish Resources by J. Emmett Duffy
The Decline of North American Freshwater Fishes by Stephen J. Walsh, Howard L. Jelks, and Noel M. Burkhead
Natural History Museum Collections in the 21st Century by Keith S. Thomson
Loss of Wetlands: How Are Bird Communities Affected? by Robert Fletcher
The Ecological Impacts of Agricultural Biotechnology by Miguel Altieri
Bringing Coastal Dead Zones Back to Life by Robert Howarth
Ecosystem Services: A Primer by Ecological Society of America
Biotechnology in Crops: Issues for the Developing World by Laura Spinney

microorganisms

Bacteria: More Than Pathogens by Trudy M. Wassenaar
Malaria, Algae, Amoeba and You: Unraveling Eukaryotic Relationships by Joel B. Dacks
Life from Space: An Emerging Paradigm by N. Chandra Wickramasinghe
Microbes: What They Do & How Antibiotics Change Them by Maura Meade-Callahan
Were Bacteria the First Forms of Life on Earth? by Daniel Jeffares and Anthony Poole

students speak out

The Global Decline of Mollusks by Christine E. Parent
Protecting Bats from Extinction by Nick Tchankoshvili
Wilderness Diagnosis: What Is the White Bengal Tiger's Future? by Swati Mishra
Where Have All the Frogs Gone? UV Radiation and Amphibian Declines by Adrienne Howse

archives

New Threats Endanger Great Whales by World Wildlife Fund
Reintroducing the Gray Wolf in the U.S. by Ryan Johnson
DNA Patents Create Monopolies on Living Organisms by Council for Responsible Genetics
The Dangerous Promise of Gene Therapy by Sophia M. Kolehmainen
Relative Scarcity: Apes on the Edge by Population Action International (PAI)
Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature's Healing Secrets by Mark J. Plotkin (Viking Press, 2000)


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