Biodiversity

Biodiversity emerged as a subject of study in its own right after conservation biologists adopted the term in the late 1980s. Through the 1990s it became a central idea across biology and environmental science. This book examines the foundational principles behind that research: how biodiversity is measured, how it is distributed across space and time, and how its study can guide the practice of conservation biology. Its author, Kevin J. Gaston, argues that although no one questions biodiversity's importance to ecology, its scientific foundations needed careful evaluation and clarification.