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Target Readership	Sen. Secondary					For help with criteria, click here
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Contents:

1 - Brief history of a concept; 2 - Biological diversity: what do we know?; 3 - The mechanisms at work in the diversification of life; 4 - The species richness of natural communities as a result of equilibrium/non-equilibrium processes; 5 - Biological diversity and the functioning of ecological systems; 6- The dynamics of biological diversity and the consequences of human activity; 7 - The dynamics of biological diversity and implications for human health; 8 - Genetic resources and biotechnology; 9 - Useful nature: the value and use of biological diversity; 10 - The conservation of biodiversity.

Review:

This text has been translated from the French original. As such it contains not only the more common Anglo-American threads but also a considerable amount of continental European thinking on the subject. Bearing this is appropriate that the first chapter looks very briefly at the theory and history of biodiversity. Chapter two looks at our current understanding of biodiversity and the known variations to the distribution of species richness. Chapter three is a very good introduction to losing and gaining species. Starting with the mechanisms of genetics the authors continue by looking at speciation, extinction and adaptations. Chapter four examines the factors that lead to greater biodiversity in terms of the theories of equilibrium and succession and the practical aspects that can influence them. Chapter five looks at biodiversity from the viewpoint of ecological systems. Diversity is not just one thing but is made up of a number of processes acting at different scales e.g. ecosystem functioning, community structure and abiotic influences on the individual. Chapter six changes direction by looking at the role of humans in altering biodiversity for a range of reasons. If all this seems very neutral then chapter 7 will alter ones view. Here, the argument turns to look at human health and how we alter it by altering biodiversity. The them of anthropogenic alteration and exploitation is continued in chapter 8 with an overview of genetic diversity and technology. This latter idea takes in a range of concepts from conventions to property rights - a far wider set than normal. This leads into chapter 9 which follows the theme but from the perspective of economic benefits. Finally, there's a discussion on how we can conserve biodiversity.

This is a very interesting text. It is a blend of continental European and Anglo-American ecology. As such it provides a far greater range of ideas on the topic of biodiversity than in normally found in a text this size which makes it a useful addition. This must be tempered with the notion that this text, although well written, requires some basic knowledge and is therefore not the ideal beginner's text. However, for those who really want to look at the subject in greater breadth than normal then this is an ideal text. As such it deserves the widest readership.