From earliest times, human beings have noticed patterns in nature: night and day, tides and lunar cycles, the changing seasons, plant succession, and animal migration. While recognizing patterns conferred great survival advantage, we are now in danger from our own success in multiplying our numbers and altering those patterns for our own purposes. It is imperative that we engage again with the patterns of nature, but this time, with awareness of our impact as a species. How will burgeoning human populations affect the health of ecosystems? Is loss of species simply a regrettable byproduct of human expansion? Or is the planet passing into a new epoch in just a few human generations? Nature and Human Society presents a wide-ranging exploration of these and other fundamental questions about our relationship with the environment. This book features findings, insights, and informed speculations from key figures in the field: E.O. Wilson, Thomas Lovejoy, Peter H. Raven, Gretchen Daily, David Suzuki, Norman Myers, Paul Erlich, Michael Bean, and many others. This volume explores the accelerated extinction of species and what we stand to lose—medicines, energy sources, crop pollination and pest control, the ability of water and soil to renew itself through biological processes, aesthetic and recreational benefits—and how these losses may be felt locally and acutely. What are the specific threats to biodiversity? The book explores human population growth, the homogenization of biota as a result in tourism and trade, and other factors, including the social influences of law, religious belief, and public education. Do we have the tools to protect biodiversity? The book looks at molecular genetics, satellite data, tools borrowed from medicine, and other scientific techniques to firm up our grasp of important processes in biology and earth science, including the "new" science of conservation biology. Nature and Human Society helps us renew our understanding and appreciation for natural patterns, with surprising details about microorganisms, nematodes, and other overlooked forms of life: their numbers, pervasiveness, and importance to the health of the soil, water, and air and to a host of human endeavors. This book will be of value to anyone who believes that the world's gross natural product is as important as the world's gross national product.Table of ContentsFront MatterIntroductionPart 1 Defining BiodiversityBarriers to Perception: From a World of Interconnection to FragmentationThe Creation of BiodiversityThe Dimensions of Life on EarthThe Sixth Extinction: How Large, Where, and When?The Meaning of Biodiversity LossThe Loss of Population Diversity and Why It MattersKeeping a Finger on the Pulse of Marine Biodiversity: How Healthy Is It?Countryside Biogeography and the Provision of Ecosystem ServicesPart 2 Less Well-Known Individual Forms of LifeMicrobial Diversity and the BiosphereBiodiversity, Classification, and Numbers of Species of ProtistsEstimating the Extent of Fungal Diversity in the TropicsNematodes: Pervading the Earth and Linking All LifeGlobal Diversity of MitesBiodiversity of Terrestrial Invertebrates in Tropical Africa: Assessing the Needs and Plan of ActionGlobal Diversity of Insects: The Problems of Estimating NumbersPart 3 The Role of the Group in BiodiversityThe World Beneath Our Feet: Soil Biodiversity and Ecosystem FunctioningNatural Investment in Diversity: The Role of Biological Communities in SoilPart 4 Means to Measure BiodiversityConservation Biology and the Preservation of Biodiversity: An AssessmentConservation Genetics: Applying Molecular Methods to Maximize the Conservation of Taxonomic and Genetic DiversityApplication of Geospatial Information for Identifying Priority Areas for Biodiversity ConservationHawaii Biological Survey: Museum Resources in Support of ConservationBuilding the Next-Generation Biological-Information InfrastructurePart 5 Threats to SustainabilityNature Displaced: Human Population Trends and Projections and Their MeaningsPopulation Growth, Sustainable Development, and the EnvironmentNonindigenous Species - A Global Threat to Biodiversity and StabilityPart 6 Infrastructure for Sustaining Biodiversity - ScienceScience and the Public Trust in a Full World: Function and Dysfunction in Science and the BiosphereThe Response of the International Scientific Community to the Challenge of BiodiversityThe Millennium Seed Bank at the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewCharting the Biosphere: Building Global Capacity for Systematics ScienceScience and Technology in the Convention on Biological DiversityEcology and the Knowledge RevolutionPart 7 Infrastructure for Sustaining Biodiversity - SocietyBiodiversity: A World Bank PerspectiveCreating Cultural Diversity: Tropical Forests TransformedEndangered Plants, Vanishing Cultures: Ethnobotany and ConservationReligion and SustainabilityReaching the Public: The Challenge of Communicating BiodiversityCenter for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC): A New Multi-Institutional Partnership to Prepare the Next Generation of Environmental LeadersNatural CapitalismPart 8 Infrastructure for Sustaining Biodiversity - PolicyLiking Science and Policy: A Research Agenda for Colombian BiodiversitySustainability and the Law: An Assessment of the Endangered Species ActGovernment Policy and Sustainability of Biodiversity in Costa RicaNational Security, National Interest, and SustainabilityBiodiversity and Organizing for Sustainability in the United States GovernmentPart 9 Examples of SustainabilityHow to Grow a Wildland: The Gardenification of NatureMeasures to Conserve Biodiversity in Sustainable Forestry: The Ro Cndor ProjectChemical Prospecting: The New Natural HistoryConservation Medicine: An Emerging FieldHow Countries with Limited Resources are Dealing with Biodiversity ProblemsBiodiversity and Sustainable Human Development: The Costa Rican AgendaThe National Biodiversity Information System of MexicoCommunity Involvement and Sustainability: The Malpai Borderlands EffortIndex