WORLD ATLAS OF BIODIVERSITY EARTH'S LIVING RESOURCES ^ > IN THE 21st CENTURY (\ X >r UNEP WCMC BRIAN GROOMBRIDGE and MARTIN D JENKINS World Atlas of Biodiversity addresses the remarkible growth in concern at all levels for living things and the environment and the increased appreciation ' the links between the state of ecosystems and the state of humankind Building on a wealth of search and analysis by the conservation worldwide, this book provides a community comprehensive and accessible view of key global sity It re- issues in biodiver- outlines some of the broad ecological relationships iterial between humans and the rest of the 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 geo- logical time and the pattern of its distribution over the surface of the Earth, and analyzes trends in the condition of the main ecosystem types and the species integral to them World Atlas of Biodiversity Published in Ihe contents of association witli UNEP-WCMC this volume not necessarily reflect the views or policies of by the University of California Press UNEP-WCfvIC, contributory organizations, University of California Press editors or publishers The designations Berl