Contents: Preface. 1. Environment and sustainable development. 2. Biodiversity knowledge and its application in the gulf of Marine Area. 3. Diversity of Abyssal Marine life. 4. Agricultural productivity for sustainable food security. 5. Effects of biotechnology on agro-biodiversity. 6. Biotechnology and genetically modified organisms. 7. Environmental problems in developing countries. 8. Environmental statistics, communication, informatics and ecological sanitation. 9. Energy and environmental politics. Bibliography. Index.
Protecting biodiversity is in our self-interest, biological resources are the pillars upon which we build civilization. Nature’s products support such diverse industries as agriculture, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, horticulture, construction and waste treatment. The loss of biodiversity threatens our food supplies, opportunities for recreation and tourism, and sources of wood, medicines and energy. It also interferes with essential ecological functions. Our need for pieces of nature we once ignored is often important and unpredictable. Time after time we have rushed back to nature’s cupboard for cures to illnesses or for infusions of tough genes from wild plants to save our crops from pest outbreaks. What’s more, the vast array of interactions among the various components of biodiversity makes the planet habitable for all species, including humans. Our personal health, and the health of our economy and human society, depends on the continuous supply of various ecological services that would be extremely costly or impossible to replace. These natural services that would be extremely costly or impossible to replace. These natural services are so varied as to be almost infinite. For example, it would be impractical to replace, to any large extent, services such as pest control performed by various creatures feeding on one another, or pollination performed by insects and birds going about their everyday business. The book provides readers with of some of the basic principles of this subject.
