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Habitat degradation is currently the main anthropogenic cause of species extinctions. The main cause of habitat degradation worldwide is agriculture, with urban sprawl, logging, mining and some fishing practices close behind. The physical destruction of habitat, such as deforestation for land development and burning fossil fuels, are examples of this. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of all threatened and recently-extinct mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes within the context of their locations and habitats. The approach takes a systematic examination of each biogeographic realm and region of the world, both terrestrial and marine, but with a particular emphasis on geographic features such as mountains and islands. It reveals patterns useful in conservation and helps to put it all into perspective. It is a baseline from which to compare subsequent developments, as well as a standardization of the way endangered species are studied.
1. The Arctic realm
2. The Palearctic realm
3. The Afrotropical realm
4. The Madagascan realm
5. The Indo-Malaysian realm
6. The Papua-Melanesian realm
7. The Australian realm
8. The Polynesian realm
9. The Nearctic realm
10. The Caribbean realm
11. The Neotropical realm
12. The Patagonian realm
13. The Antarctic realm
14. The Oceanic realm
15. Global balance
Matthew Richardson is a Canadian author known for such award-winning books as Lemurs of Madagascar (3rd edition, Conservation International, 2010). He has worked alongside some of the most high-profile conservationists in the world, and served as an active member of both the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Conservation Planning Specialist Group. Passionate about both human and natural history, he has drawn extensively from these experiences to create what will surely become the foundational text on endangered and extinct species for decades to come.
