Biodiversity and Global Change - Softcover

The loss of biodiversity of organisms and the effects of global change (including changes in soil, water, vegetation and atmosphere) are two major issues that confront today's biologists and environmental scientists. The objective of this book is to assess biodiversity loss in the context of global change. The book was originally published in 1992 by the International Union of Biological Sciences, and is now reprinted with minor revisions and corrections.

The loss of biodiversity of organisms and the effects of global change (including changes in soil, water, vegetation and atmosphere) are two major issues that confront today's biologists and environmental scientists. The objective of this book is to assess biodiversity loss in the context of global change. The first three chapters deal with organizations, political and general questions. These are followed by consideration of the meaning and practical consequences of complexity and non-linearity, the significance for biodiversity studies of advances in molecular biology and population genetics, and interactions between biota and the atmosphere. The third part of the book assesses overall biodiversity and biodiversity in microorganisms, marine systems, terrestrial systems and in the past. Three chapters dealing with the management of biodiversity conclude the book, which addresses a topical issue, of interest to a wide range of biological and environmental scientists.