Groombridge, Jenkins : World Atlas of Biodiversity : Earth's Living Resources in the 21st Century

| 2002 | | Leinen/SU, F:22,3x28,5 cm, 352 S, 37 Karten, 25 Zeichnungen, 49 Tabellen, 33 Farbfotos. | WG: Buch | Das umfangreiche Werk liefert Daten und Informationen zum aktuellen Status der Biodiversität natürlicher Ressourcen der Erde. Das 1992 erstmals erschienene Grundlagenwerk wurde völlig überarbeitet und aktualisiert. Einführende Kapitel geben einen Überblick über die Entstehung der Biosphäre, die Diversität der Organismen im Laufe der Jahrmillionen und den Einfluß des Menschen. Ausblicke in die Zukunft der Artenvielfalt und spezielle Kapitel mariner, terrestrialer Biodiversität sowie der von Bächen, Flüssen und Seen bilden den Schwerpunkt des Buches. | The World Atlas of Biodiversity is an updated edition of Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's Living Resources, originally published in 1992 and reissued in 2000 as Global Biodiversity: Earth's living resources in the 21st Century. This 2002 edition, totally redesigned and updated, includes new data and graphics, additional photos, and additional material on food issues and biodiversity, as well as an entirely new chapter on protected areas and other conservation issues. »World Atlas of Biodiversity« addresses the remarkable growth in concern at all levels for living things and the environment, and increased appreciation of the links between the state of ecosystems and the state of humankind. Building on a wealth of research and analysis by the conservation community worldwide, this book provides a comprehensive and accessible view of key global issues in biodiversity. It outlines some of the broad ecological relationships between humans and the rest of the material world and summarizes information on the health of the planet. Opening with an outline of some fundamental aspects of material cycles and energy flow in the biosphere, the book goes on to discuss the expansion of this diversity through geological time and the pattern of ist distribution over the surface of the Earth, and trends in the condition of the main ecosystem types and the species integral to them. Chapter 1: The Biosphere: The living planet; Productivity and the carbon cycle; Chapter 2: The Diversity of Organisms: Biodiversity - Evolution and systematics; Groups and names; Species concepts and diversity assessment; Numbers of living species; The diversity of living organisms; The phyla of living organisms; Chapter 3: Biodiversity through time: The fossil record; Patterns of diversification; Patterns of extinction; Chapter 4: Humany and Biodiversity: Use of natural resources; Human origins; Impacts of early hominids on the environment; Appropriation of net primary production; Current use of wild resources; Chapter 5: Pattersns and Trends in global Biodiversity: The distribution of biological diversity; Diversity as a basis for conservation action; Global trends in biodiversity; Recent vertebrate extinctions; Chapter 6: Marine Biodiversity: The seas; The composition and movement of seawater; The major zones of the oceans; The basis of life in the seas; Biological diversity in the seas; Vertebrate diversity in the seas; Major marine communities; Shallow water communities; Corals and coral reefs; Seagrasses; Algae and kelp forests; Oceanic pelagic communities; Deep-sea communities; Human use of and impact on the oceans; World marine capture fisheries; Other major impacts on the marine biosphere; The current status of marine biodiversity; Management of marine ecosystems; Chapter 7: Terrestrial Biodiversity: The terrestrial biosphere; Forests; Temperate needleleaf forests; Tropical moist forests; Tropical dry forests; Sparse trees and parkland; Forest plantations; Changes in forest cover; Pressures on forest biodiversity; Forest protection and management; Non-forest ecosystems; Tundra; Grasslands and savannas; Shrublands; Deserts and semi-deserts; The status of terrestrial biodiversity; Chapter 8: Inland Water Biodiversity: Inland water habitats; Lotic systems: rivers and catchment basins; Lentic systems; Wetlands; Diversity in inland waters; Inland water animals; Inland waters and humankind; Uses of inland water species; Other major factors; influencing inland water ecosystems; The current status of inland water biodiversity; Assessment of the status of inland water; ecosystems. | [E] | |