Explores one of the hottest new ideas in ecological theory, that the dense web of dependencies which makes up an ecosystem contains an overlooked factor - time. Most organisms are adapted for relationships with other organisms, or 'missing partners', that are now extinct. Barlow suggests that current ripples of biodiversity loss may thus turn into cascades of extinction.
Connie Barlow is an editor and author of several books including Green Space, Green Time. She lives in Rockland County, New York.
Fascinating, imaginative, and stimulating, The Ghosts of Evolution is a wonderful piece of writing-well worth reading by anyone interested in nature and its myriad components. -Michael J. Balick, The New York Botanical Garden.