Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity
June 14, 2012
The most unique feature of Earth is the existence of life, and the most extraordinary feature of life is its diversity. Approximately 9 million types of plants, animals, protists and fungi inhabit the Earth. So, too, do 7 billion people. Two decades ago, at the first Earth Summit, the vast majority of the world's nations declared that human actions were dismantling the Earth's ecosystems, eliminating genes, species and biological traits at an alarming rate. This observation led to the question of how such loss of biological diversity will alter the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide society with the goods and services needed to prosper.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2012 |
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Title | Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity |
DOI | 10.1038/nature11148 |
Authors | Bradley J. Cardinale, J. Emmett Duffy, Andrew Gonzalez, David U. Hooper, Charles Perrings, Patrick Venail, Anita Narwani, Georgina M. Mace, David Tilman, David A. Wardle, Ann P. Kinzig, Gretchen C. Daily, Michel Loreau, James B. Grace, Anne Larigauderie, Diane S. Srivastava, Shahid Naeem |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | Nature |
Index ID | 70038708 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | National Wetlands Research Center |