"The source of the book is the National Forum on BioDiversity, held in Washington, D.C., on September 21-24, 1986, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences and Smithsonian Institution"--Page v. Includes bibliographical references and index.

The current state of biological diversity / E.O. Wilson -- The loss of diversity : causes and consequences / Paul R. Ehrlich -- Tropical forests and their species : going, going-? / Norman Myers -- Ecological diversity in coastal zones and oceans / G. Carleton Ray -- Diversity crises in the geological past / David M. Raup -- Estimating reductions in the diversity of tropical forest species / Ariel E. Lugo -- Challenges to biological diversity in urban areas / Dennis D. Murphy -- Deep ecology meets the developing world / James D. Nations -- Screening plants for new medicines / Norman R. Farnsworth -- Serendipity in the exploration of biodiversity : what good are weedy tomatoes? / Hugh H. Iltis -- The outlook tor new agricultural and industrial products from the tropics / Mark J. Plotkin -- Our diminishing tropical forests / Peter H. Raven -- The tropical forest canopy : the heart of biotic diversity / Terry L. Erwin -- Tropical dry forests : the most endangered major tropical ecosystem / Daniel H. Janzen -- Deforestation and Indians in Brazilian Amazonia / Kenneth I. Taylor -- Primate diversity and the tropical forest : case studies from Brazil and Madagascar and the importance of the megadiversity countries / Russell A. Mittermeier -- Lessons from Mediterranean-climate regions / Harold A. Mooney -- Structural and functional diversity in temperate forests / Jerry F. Franklin -- Diversity in and among grasslands / Paul G. Risser -- Diversity and biological invasions of oceanic islands / Peter M. Vitousek -- Economics and the preservation of biodiversity / W. Michael Hanemann -- Commodity, amenity, and morality : the limits of quantification in valuing biodiversity / Bryan Norton -- The rise of the global exchange economy and the loss of biological diversity / Richard B. Norgaard -- Why put a value on biodiversity? / David Ehrenfeld -- What mainstream economists have to say about the value of biodiversity / Alan Randall -- Monitoring biological diversity for setting priorities in conservation / F. William Burley -- Information management for the conservation of biodiversity / Robert E. Jenkins Jr. -- Identifying and protecting the origins of our food plants / J. Trevor Williams -- Conserving and monitoring biotic diversity : some African examples / Brian J. Huntley -- Can technology aid species preservation? / William Conway -- Conservation of biological diversity in botanical gardens / Peter S. Ashton -- Using science and technology to reestablish species lost in nature / Tom J. Cade -- Intensive technology in the care of ex situ populations of vanishing species / Ulysses S. Seal -- Cryobiology, embryo transfer, and artificial insemination in ex situ animal conservation programs / Betsy L. Dresser -- Ecological restoration : reflections on a half-century of experience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum / William R. Jordan III -- Restoring diversity in salt marshes : can we do it? / Joy B. Zedler -- Restoration of degraded lands in the Amazon Basin / Christopher Uhl -- Increasing diversity by restoring damaged ecosystems / John Cairns Jr. -- Restoring diversity : the search for a social and economic context / John Todd -- Are there alternatives to destruction? / Michael H. Robinson -- Agroecology and in situ conservation of native crop diversity in the Third World / Miguel A. Altieri and Laura C. Merrick -- Alternatives to destruction : research in Panama / Gilberto Ocana [and others] -- Biological engineering for sustainable biomass production / Sinyan Shen -- Preserving biological diversity in the tropical forests of the Asian region / John Spears -- The Tropical Forestry Action Plan : recent progress and new initiatives / F. William Burley -- International development and the protection of biological diversity / Nyle C. Brady -- Diverse considerations / Thomas E. Lovejoy -- The conservation of biodiversity in Latin America : a perspective / Mario A. Ramos -- A major new opportunity to finance the preservation of biodiversity / Robert J.A. Goodland -- And today we're going to talk about biodiversity- that's right, biodiversity / Lester R. Brown -- The effect of global climatic change on natural communities / Robert L. Peters II -- Mind in the biosphere; mind of the biosphere / Michael E. Soul e -- A mammal gallery : five word pictures and three poems / Michael McClure -- Cold water spirit / Larry Littlebird -- A Christian view of biodiversity / John B. Cobb Jr. -- The earth as a living organism / James E. Lovelock -- Epilogue / David Challinor. This important book for scientists and nonscientists alike calls attention to a most urgent global problem: the rapidly accelerating loss of plant and animal species to increasing human population pressure and the demands of economic development. Based on a major conference sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution, Biodiversity creates a systematic framework for analyzing the problem and searching for possible solutions.