The atlas of the living world magnificently reveals the ever-changing patterns of life on earth. It explains where plants and animals live - and why they exist where they do - and traces out the vital geographical dimensions of natural history in maps. On this cartographic foundation a team of scientists, artists and photographers has drawn together the strands of modern knowledge to create a fascinating study of the natural realm.
On a global scale, the Atlas charts the physical forces that have shaped the earth, and the biological processes that have determined the life of our planet. Here are stories of moving continents and dying dinosaurs, epics of how the Ice Ages transformed whole fauna, and tales of how new islands have been formed and populated.
Coming in closer, the environment is brought into sharp focus through its many and varied habitats. From tropical and temperate forest, through savanna and scrub, ocean, shore and islands, deserts and tundra - each has its own unique identity created by the living things that flourish within its boundaries. Comprising each habitat are the niches where creatures are engaged in the daily round of living, where resources must be shared, mates found and young reared.
But the living planet is not static. Superimposed upon it are changing patterns of existence - of migration and colonization, of natural population explosions and crashes - which give the biological world its own dynamic. The arrival of humans has also effected great changes to the living environment, many of them documented, explained and evaluated here.
The Atlas reaches out to the leading edge of scientific knowledge, to unravel the vital forces that are moulding the future. In doing so, it addresses the most crucial questions of planet management into the next century.