Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity.
The most unique feature of Earth is the existence of life, and the most extraordinary feature of life is its diversity. Approximately 9 million types of plants, animals, protists and fungi inhabit the Earth. So, too, do 7 billion people. Two decades ago, at the first Earth Summit, the vast majority of the world's nations declared that human actions were dismantling the Earth's ecosystems, eliminating genes, species and biological traits at an alarming rate. This observation led to the question of how such loss of biological diversity will alter the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide society with the goods and services needed to prosper.
School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. bradcard@umich.edu
Bradley J
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Cardinale
J Emmett
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Duffy
Andrew
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Gonzalez
David U
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Hooper
Charles
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Perrings
Patrick
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Venail
Anita
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Narwani
Georgina M
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Mace
David
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Tilman
David A
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Wardle
Ann P
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Kinzig
Gretchen C
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Daily
Michel
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Loreau
James B
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Grace
Anne
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Larigauderie
Diane S
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Srivastava
Shahid
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Naeem
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D057231:Climate Change / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D032921:Consensus; D004463:Ecology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans