Describes the millions of species that provide ecosystem services to maintain the quality of air and water and the fertility of the soil, dispose of domestic, industrial and agricultural waste, and protect crops from pests. Also describes how biological diversity opens the way for new medicines, pharmaceuticals, construction materials and designs, and manufactured goods. '... argues for the conservation of natural resources from a firmly utilitarian perspective. Taking examples from a wide range of taxonomic groups, [the authors] demonstrate how often overlooked species are fundamental to our continued viability.' E.J.Milner-Gulland, Nature
Andrew Beattie is director of the Commonwealth Key Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Christine Turnbull is research associate at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Paul R. Ehrlich is Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of biological sciences at Stanford University.
A very innovative and wonderfully illustrated book about why biodiversity and ecosystem processes are important to the planet. Margaret Lowman, author of Life in the Treetops: Adventures of a Woman in Field Biology "Wild Solutions brilliantly regales the reader with the ingenuity and diversity of Nature and with humanity's dependence on the fragile 'natural internet' of our littleknown planet... Must reading for everyone." Simon A. Levin, author of Fragile Dominion: Complexity and the Commons"