Encyclopedia of biodiversity

First used in 1980, "biodiversity" often describes the abundance, variety, and genetic constitution of native animals and plants, and has been linked with politics and environmental technology. Although the 1986 National forum on biodiversity brought issues of biodiversity to the fore, the inescapable need to know more about the diversity of life on Earth continues to remain unmet.In recent years, biodiversity has influenced important scientific considerations, international agreements, conventions, conservation initiatives, political debates, and socio-economic implications. Knowledge derived from the study of biodiversity will affect the quality of life enjoyed in the future by influencing decision-making processes and aiding new discoveries.The science of biodiversity has become the science of our future. Our awareness of the loss of biodiversity has brought a long overdue appreciation of the magnitude of our loss and a determination to develop the tools to protect our future. The Encyclopedia of Biodiversity brings together, for the first time, a study of the dimensions of diversity. It examination of the services biodiversity provides, and measures to protect it. Major themes of the work include the evolution of biodiversity, systems for classifying and defining biodiversity, ecological patterns and theories of biodiversity, and an assessment of contemporary patterns and trends in biodiversity.

Acid rain and deposition -- Adaptation -- Adaptive radiation -- Aesthetic factors -- Africa, ecosystems of -- Agricultural invasions -- Agriculture, industrialized -- Agriculture, sustainable -- Agriculture, traditional -- Air pollution -- Alpine Ecosystems -- Amazon ecosystems -- Amphibians, biodiversity of -- Antarctic ecosystems -- Aquaculture -- Arachnids -- Archaea, origin of -- Arctic ecosystems -- Arthropods (terrestrial0, Amazonian -- Asia, ecosystems of -- Atmospheric gases -- Australia, ecosystems of -- Bacterial biodiversity -- Bacterial genetics -- Beetles -- Biodiversity as a commodity -- Biodiversity, definition of -- Biodiversity, evolution and -- Biodiversity generation, overview -- Biodiversity, origin of -- Biodiversity-rich countries -- Biogeochemical cycles -- Biogeography, overview -- Bioprospecting -- Birds, biodiversity of -- Boreal forest ecosystems -- Breeding of animals -- Breeding of plants -- Butterflies -- C4 plants -- Captive breeding and reintroduction -- Carbon cycle -- Carnivores -- Carrying capacity, concept of -- Cattle, sheep and goats, ecological role of -- Central America, ecosystems of -- Cladistics -- Cladogenesis -- Climate change and ecology, synergism of -- Climate, effects of -- Coastal beach ecosystems -- Coevolution -- Commons, concept and theory of -- Commons, institutional diversity of -- Competition, interspecific -- Complementarity -- Complexity versus diversity -- Computer systems and models, use of -- Conservation biology, discipline of -- Conservation efforts, contemporary -- Conservation movement, historical -- Crop improvement and biodiversity -- Crustaceans -- Darwin, Charles

-- Defenses, ecology of -- Deforestation and land clearing -- Desert ecosystems -- Desertification -- Diapause and dormancy -- Differentiation -- Dinosaurs, extinction theories for -- Diseases, conservation and -- Dispersal biogeography -- Disturbance, mechanisms of -- Diversity, community/regional level -- Diversity, molecular level -- Diversity, organism level -- Diversity, taxonomic versus functional -- Domestication of crop plants -- Ecological footprint, concept of -- Ecological genetics -- Ecology, concepts and theories in -- Ecology of agriculture -- Economic growth and the environment -- Economic value of biodiversity, measurements of -- Economic value of biodiversity, overview -- Ecosystem, concept of -- Ecosystem function measurement, aquatic and marine communities -- Ecosystem function, principles of -- Ecosystem services, concept of -- Ecotoxicology -- Edible plants -- Education and biodiversity -- Endangered birds -- Endangered ecosystems -- Endangered freshwater invertebrates -- Endangered mammals -- Endangered marine invertebrates -- Endangered plants -- Endangered reptiles and amphibians -- Endangered terrestrial invertebrates -- Endemism -- Energy flow and ecosystems -- Energy use, human -- Environmental ethics -- Environmental impact, concept and measurement of -- Estuarine ecosystems -- Ethical issues in biodiversity protection -- Ethnobiology and ethnoecology -- Eukaryotes, origin of -- Europe, ecosystems of -- Eutrophication and oligotrophication -- Evolution, theory of -- Ex situ, in situ conservation -- Extinction, causes of -- Extinction, rates of -- Extinctions, modern examples of -- Fires, ecological effects of -- Fish, biodiversity of

-- Fish conservation -- Fish stocks -- Flies, gnats and mosquitoes -- Food webs -- Forest canopies, animal diversity -- Forest canopies, plant diversity -- Forest ecology -- Fossil record -- Framework for assessment and monitoring of biodiversity -- Freshwater ecosystems -- Freshwater ecosystems, human impact on -- Functional diversity -- Functional groups -- Fungi -- Gene banks -- Genes, description of -- Genetic diversity -- Geologic time, history of biodiversity in -- Government legislation and regulation -- Grasshoppers and their relatives -- Grazing, effects of -- Greenhouse effect -- Guilds -- Habitat and niche, concept of -- Hemiparasitism -- Herbaceous vegetation, species richness in -- Herbicides -- High temperature ecosystems -- Historical awareness of biodiversity -- Hotspots -- Human effects on ecosystems, overview -- Hunter gatherer societies, ecological impact of -- Hymenoptera -- Inbreeding and outbreeding -- Indicator species -- Indigenous peoples, biodiversity and -- Insecticide resistance -- Insects, overview -- Intertidal ecosystems -- Introduced plants, negative effects of -- Introduced species, effect and distribution -- Invertebrates, freshwater, overview -- Invertebrates, marine, overview -- Invertebrates, terrestrial, overview -- Island biogeography -- Isoptera -- Keystone species -- Lake and pond ecosystems -- Landscape diversity -- Land use issues -- Land use patterns, historic -- Latent extinctions, the living dead -- Latitude, common trends within -- Life history, evolution of -- Limits to biodiversity (species packing) -- Literary perspectives on biodiversity -- Logged forests -- Loss of biodiversity, overview

-- Mammals, biodiversity of -- Mammals, conservation efforts for -- Mammals, (late quaternary), extinctions of -- Mammals (pre-quaternary), extinctions of -- Mangrove ecosystems -- Marine and aquatic communities, stress from eutrophication -- Marine ecosystems -- Marine ecosystems, human impacts on -- Marine mammals, extinctions of -- Marine sediments -- Market economy and biodiversity -- Mass extinctions, concept of -- Mass extinctions, notable examples of -- Measurement and analysis of biodiversity -- Mediterranean climate ecosystems -- Metapopulations -- Microbial biodiversity, measurement of -- Microbial diversity -- Microorganisms, role of -- Migration -- Molluscs -- Moths -- Museums and institutions -- Mutualism, evolution of -- Myriapods -- Natural extinctions (not human influenced) -- Natural reserves and preserves -- Near East ecosystems, animal diversity -- Near East ecosystems, plant diversity -- Nest parasitism -- Nitrogen, nitrogen cycle -- Nomenclature, systems of -- North America, patterns of biodiversity in -- Nucleic acid biodiversity -- Ocean ecosystems -- Origin of life, theories of -- Paleoecology -- Parasitism -- Parasitoids -- Pelagic ecosystems -- Pesticides, use and effects of -- Pharmacology, biodiversity and -- Phenotype, a historical perspective -- Photosynthesis, mechanisms of -- Phylogeny -- Plankton, status and role of -- Plant-animal interactions -- Plant biodiversity, overview -- Plant communities, evolution of -- Plant conservation, overview -- Plant hybrids -- Plant invasions -- Plant-soil interactions -- Plant sources of drugs and chemicals -- Pollinators, role of -- Pollution, overview -- Population density

-- Population diversity, overview -- Population dynamics -- Population genetics -- Populations, species and conservation genetics -- Population stabilization, human -- Population viability analysis -- Poverty and biodiversity -- Predators, ecological role of -- Primate populations, conservation of -- Property rights and biodiversity -- Protozoa -- Psychrophiles, origin of -- Rainforest ecosystems, animal diversity -- Rainforest ecosystems, plant diversity -- Rainforest loss and change -- Range ecology, global livestock influences -- Recombination -- Reef ecosystems: threats to their biodiversity -- Reforestation -- Religious traditions and biodiversity -- Remote sensing and image processing -- Reptiles, biodiversity of -- Resource exploitation, fisheries -- Resource partitioning -- Restoration of animal, plant and microbial diversity -- Restoration of biodiversity, overview -- River ecosystems -- Salmon -- Scale, concept and effects of -- Seagrasses -- Slash and burn agriculture, effects of -- Social and cultural factors -- Social behavior -- Soil behavior -- Soil biota, soil systems and processes -- Soil conservation -- South America, ecosystems of -- South American natural ecosystems, status of -- Southern (Austral) ecosystems -- Speciation, process of -- Speciation, theories of -- Species-area relationships -- Species coexistence -- Species, concepts of -- Species diversity, overview -- Species interactions -- Stability, concept of -- Stewardship, concept of -- Storage, ecology of -- Stress, environmental -- Subspecies, semispecies and superspecies

-- Subterranean ecosystems -- Succession, phenomenon of -- Sustainability, concept and practice of -- Systematics, overview -- Taxonomy, methods of -- Temperate forests -- Temperate grassland and shrubland ecosystems -- Terrestrail ecosystems -- Thermophiles, origin of -- Timber industry -- Tourism, role of -- Traditional conservation practices -- Trophic levels -- Tropical forest ecosystems -- True bugs and their relatives -- Ultraviolet radiation -- Urban/suburban ecology -- Vents -- Vertebrates, overview -- Vicariance biogeography -- Wetlands ecosystems -- Wetlands restoration -- Wildlife management -- Worms, annelida -- Worms, nematoda -- Worms, platyhelminthes -- Zoos and zoological parks.