Biodiversity

The range of life forms associated with Planet Earth is almost endless - billiions of species survive on the planet and interact in complex ways; they co-determine each others future. Discovering and cataloging all species is a task that will take many more years. Species often flourish and then die out. The current rate of species extinction is worrisomely high.

Encyclopedia of Life    Map of Life    Wallace's century-old map of natural world updated

Researchers aim to assemble the tree of life for all 2 million named species 

A Salt-Free Primordial Soup     Evolution of life on Earth

Evolution: it's all in how you splice it   Beacon Center for the Study of Evolution in Action    Evolution to the rescue

Biodiversity conservation across scales - lessons from a science-policy dialogue

Pacific birds ancient extinction estimated at nearly 1000 species

DNA technology set to speed up species discovery

Scientists challenge current theories about natural habitats and species diversity

Biodiversity helps protect Nature against human impact 

The Living Planet Report    Research reveals contrasting consequences of a warmer Earth 

Definition of Speciation   Scientists list top 10 new species    International Day of Biological Diversity 2012

Relationship between a species' niche and its distribution   The biodiversity crises: Worse than climate change

Scientists uncover evidence of impending tipping point for Earth          

Biodiversity and global health - hubris, humility and the unknown    Biodiversity in a Changing World

Researchers Greatly Improve Evolutionary Tree of Life for Mammals

UNM Researchers Explore Evolution of World’s Mammals Over the Past 100 Million Years

The Midori Prize for biodiversity

Regional:

North American mammal evolution tracks with climate change

Atlas of Living Australia

Impact of climate change on biodiversity and habitats in East Africa

Preserving Nature on Land and Sea   WWF LIving Planet Report

Streamlining European biodiversity indicators 2020:

Extremophiles:

Searching for life where the Sun doesn't shine: Part 1    Part 2   Part 3

Unique microbes found in extreme environment    Life on Earth's ceiling  

Tardigrades in space   The toughest animal on Earth ... and in space!

Hot springs microbe yields record-breaking, heat-tolerant enzyme

Life in the extreme: uranium toxicity response different in nearly genetically identical microorganisms 

A hot species for cool structures   Scientists find microbes in lava tube living in conditions like those on Mars

Swansong biospheres