Biodiversity: Past, Present, and Future

1997/07/01 by J. John Sepkoski · 6 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

paper · doi:10.1017/s0022336000040026

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?

Cited by

• <i>Sinusichnus,</i> a trace fossil from Antarctica and Venezuela: expanding the dataset of crustacean burrows
• On the basis of stasis: documentation of taxon durations in paleontology and the necessity of museum voucher specimens
• Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology
• Diversification dynamics of vegetation during the Cenozoic in the Neotropics: a palynological perspective from Colombia
• Observations and perspectives on the variation of biodiversity
• Reconstructing Early Microbial Life

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• Measuring Biodiversity and Extinction—Present and Past
• BIODIVERSITY IS NOT JUST SPECIES
• The past and future of known biodiversity: Rates, patterns, and projections of new species over time
• How many species are there?
• Linking evolutionary and ecological theory illuminates non-equilibrium biodiversity