Biodiversity: A Beginner's Guide

Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Publications)

by John I. Spicer

This book is a short and simple introduction to biodiversity-- how it arose, where it occurs, why it is important and what should be done to maintain it. Although it will be of interest to conservation and environment professionals, the text is written primarily with undergraduate students in mind.

As a result, it provides a timely overview of serious attempts made to quantify and describe biodiversity in a scientific manner, and also acts as a point of entry into the primary literature. I ncorporated into the text are a number of exercises designed to encourage active learning and promote debate of some of the more controversial issues.

Genres: Environment, Food, Biology

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book achieves quite well what it sets out to do, be an introduction to the concept of biological diversity. It can be roughly divided into two parts, the first half dealing with the science of biodiversity, the what, where and how of it, while the second half dealt with the human aspects, the threats, the uses and lastly a short history of key moments in global governance addressing the loss of biodiversity. A fairly comprehensive coverage overall, and even for those who are already familiar with the field there are things to learn, as the author used his own specialization on marine biology to illustrate his points with examples from sea life, which is probably less widely known.

The conservation oriented part came across as rather bland and generic by comparison, being basically an info-dump of statistics and dates. While that could work for serving as an overview, the personal touch in the previous section that made the book more enjoyable was lacking. There was a short update for this second edition at the end. Here, Spicer got personal again, making a plea for action from the basis of his religion and concern for descendants. This time though it just felt awkward and unnecessary.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

An authoritative and accessible guide to biodiversity. It starts with how it’s defined and measured, and how we started out with such a wonderful variety of life. It then goes on to examine the threats to biodiversity and our rather limited attempts to preserve it. Difficult to find fault with it, although I’m nothing more than an amateur in the field.