Global biodiversity in a changing environment : scenarios for the 21st century /

Summary: Publisher Summary 1 The scientific community has voiced two general concerns about the future of the earth. Firstly, climatologists and oceanographers have focused on the changes in our physical environment, ie climate, oceans, and air. And secondly, environmental biologists have addressed issues of conservation and the extinction of species. There is increasing evidence that these two broad concerns are intertwined and mutually dependent. Past changes in biodiversity have both responded to and caused changes in the earths environment. In its discussions of ten key terrestrial biomes and freshwater ecosystems, this volume uses our broad understanding of global environmental change to present the first comprehensive scenarios of biodiversity for the twenty-first century. Combining physical earth science with conservation biology, the book provides a starting-point for regional assessments on all scales. The book will be of interest to those concerned with guiding research on the changing environment of the earth and with planning future policy, especially in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Convention.   Publisher Summary 2 This book presents the first comprehensive scenarios of biodiversity for the earth's major terrestrial biomes and freshwater ecosystems in the twenty-first century. The editors combine physical science and conservation biology, assessing the response of biodiversity to variations in land use, climate, the oceans, and the chemistry of the air we breathe. Future Scenarios of Global Biodiversity will be of interest to all those concerned with guiding research on the changing environment of the earth and with planning future policy, especially in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Convention.