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Science 16 August 1991:
Vol. 253. no. 5021, pp. 758 - 762
DOI: 10.1126/science.253.5021.758
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Articles

Biodiversity Studies: Science and Policy

PAUL R. EHRLICH 1 and EDWARD 0. WILSON 2

1 Bing Professor of Population Studies and Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
2 Baird Professor of Science and Curator in Entomology at Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA 02138-2902

Biodiversity studies comprise the systematic examination of the full array of different kinds of organisms together with the technology by which the diversity can be maintained and used for the benefit of humanity. Current basic research at the species level focuses on the process of species formation, the standing levels of species numbers in various higher taxonomic categories, and the phenomena of hyperdiversity and extinction proneness. The major practical concern is the massive extinction rate now caused by human activity, which threatens losses in the esthetic quality of the world, in economic opportunity, and in vital ecosystem services.


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Biodiversity : loss.
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