This concise introductory text provides a complete overview of biodiversity - what it is, how it arose, its distribution, why it is important, human impact upon it, and what should be done to maintain it.

• Timely overview of the serious attempts made to quantify and describe biodiversity in a scientific way
• Acts as an easy entry point into the primary literature
• Provides real-world examples of key issues, including illustrations of major temporal and spatial patterns in biodiversity
• Designed...