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Book Cover
Book
Author Baskin, Yvonne.

Title The work of nature : how the diversity of life sustains us / Yvonne Baskin
Edition First paperback edition
Published Washington, D.C. : Island Press, 1998
©1997

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 MELB  333.72 Bas/Won  AVAILABLE
Description xix, 263 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Contents Foreword / Paul R. Ehrlich -- Preface / Harold A. Mooney and Jane Lubchenco -- Ch. 1. This Web of Life -- Ch. 2. The Keystone Club: Who's Important -- Ch. 3. Community Ties -- Ch. 4. Water: The Essence of Life -- Ch. 5. The Vitality of the Soil -- Ch. 6. Of Plants and Productivity -- Ch. 7. The Power to Shape the Land -- Ch. 8. Climate and Atmosphere -- Ch. 9. Do We Still Need Nature?
Summary In The Work of Nature, noted science writer Yvonne Baskin examines the threats posed to humans by the loss of biodiversity. She summarizes and explains key findings from the ecological sciences, highlighting examples from around the world where shifts in species have affected the provision of clean air, pure water, fertile soils, lush landscapes, and stable natural communities. Distilling and bringing to life the work of the world's leading ecologists, The Work of Nature is the first book of its kind to clearly explain the practical consequences of declining biodiversity on ecosystem health and functioning
Notes "A project of SCOPE, the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment."
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Biodiversity.
Conservation of natural resources.
Biotic communities -- Economic aspects.
Environmentalism.
Human ecology.
Protected areas -- Economic aspects.
Author International Council of Scientific Unions. Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment.
LC no. 96052051
ISBN 1559635193 (cloth)
1559635207 (paperback)