This title celebrates the diversity of the natural world. It aims to bring to life the complex relationships between different species and their environment, from the bizarre communities that thrive around undersea volcanic vents to the amazing adaptations of polar creatures. The book explores and describes all the major habitats and eco-systems including deserts, oceans, worlds of ice and snow, forests, grasslands and cities. Key factors that maintain the precarious balance of the natural world such a foodchains, migration and climate are also explained. The place of humans is also covered, from forest dwellers such as the Amazonian Yamonami to the impact of growing populations and ever-expanding cities. The book concludes with a look at what we can do to save endangered eco-systems and habitats.

 

 

There are 80 pages in this book. This book was published in 2002 by Pan Macmillan .

Clive Gifford is an award-winning author of more than 40 books for children and adults, including How The Future Began: Everyday Life, Essential Chemistry and Facts and Records: Space. A chapter contributor to The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia, Clive lives in Manchester but travels as far afield as Japan and South America to research and write. Jerry Cadle has presented and written a wide-range of natural history documentaries including the Emmy-nominated Swarms for the Discovery Channel and Earth Trek for WNET. His 1993 film The Hitch-hiker's Guide to Saving the Rainforests won an English Speaking Union award. In 1993, he was cameraman for a trans-Saharan expedition that was the very first to make the crossing during the Saharan summer. Clive Gifford is a writer and editor of many bestselling quiz books.

This book has the following chapters: 1 Half Title; 2-3 Title; 4-5 Imprint and Contents; Chapter One: Our Living Planet; 6-7 Biomes and Climate; 8-9 Plants; 10-11 Animals; 12-13 Food Webs and Ecosystems; Chapter Two: Water; 14-15 Seas and Oceans; 16-17 Coral Reefs; 18-19 Coasts and Wetlands; 20-21 Rivers and Lakes; 22-23 People and Water; Chapter Three: Forests; 24-25 Rainforests; 26-27 The Rainforest Floor; 28-29 The Rainforest Canopy; 30-31 Temperate Forests; 32-33 The Taiga; 34-35 People and the Forests; Chapter Four: Grasslands; 36-37 African Grasslands; 38-39 African Predators; 40-41 Northern Plains; 42-43 People and Grasslands; Chapter Five: Deserts; 44-45 Deserts; 46-47 Water of Life; 48-49 Surviving the Heat; 50-51 People and Deserts; Chapter Six: Polar Regions; 52-53 The Tundra; 54-55 The Arctic; 56-57 The Antarctic; 58-59 People and the Poles; Chapter Seven: Islands; 60-61 Small Islands; 62-63 Larger Islands; 64-65 Australia; 66-67 People and Islands; Chapter Eight: Human Impact; 68-69 Urban Wildlife; 70-71 A World Transformed; 72-73 The Future; Reference; 74-75 Factfile; 76-77 Glossary; 78-79 Index; 80 Acknowledgements