Biodiversity: Past, Present, and Future

1997/07/01 by J. John Sepkoski · 309 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Biodiversity #Biology #Demography #Ecology #Environmental resource management #Environmental science #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Extinction (optical mineralogy) #Extinction event #Fossil Record #Geography #Geology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Paleontology #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Sociology

paper · doi:10.1017/s0022336000040026

published in Journal of Paleontology 71(4), 533-539 (Cambridge University Press)

openalex publication_date 1997/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

Biodiversity is the number and variability of genes, species, and communities in space and time (Norse et al., 1986; Wilson, 1988; Heywood and Baste, 1995). The fundamental question that has governed its study in modern times is Hutchinson's (1959): “Why are there so many kinds of animals?” In more recent decades, a somber subquestion has been added: How many species are dying every year (e.g., Wilson, 1992)?

Citations

• Homage to Santa Rosalia or Why Are There So Many Kinds of Animals?

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