Biodiversity

From The Critics

"This lucid introduction is accompanied by bright, full-color photos, and its large format and well-planned layout are attractive and inviting."

KLIATT

This introduction to the importance of variety and the interdependence of forms of life features attractive full-color photos and a relaxed, conversational tone. Patent, who has a Ph.D. in zoology, has written more than 80 books on wildlife for young people. She focuses here on biodiversity in North America and Costa Rica, using examples as well as personal anecdotes to explain concepts like natural selection, extinction, and sustainable development. Chapter headings give a good sense of the contents: "The Miracle of Diversity," "Adapting to the Environment," "Links and Relationships," "The Origins of Diversity," "Humans and Nature, "Studying Biodiversity," "Preserving Biodiversity," and "Only One Earth." Patent discusses the impact of humans on the environment and efforts at conservation, pointing out "Our health is linked to the Earth's well-being." Visually appealing and easy to read, this will be appreciated by upper elementary and middle school science students and their teachers. KLIATT Codes: J; Recommended for junior high school students. 1996, Houghton Mifflin, Clarion, 112p. illus. maps. index.,
— Paula Rohrlick

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9-Threads from Patent's personal experiences in Costa Rica and North America are woven with scientific strands to provide a perspective on the tapestried life that shapes our planet. The clearly written text, comfortably conversational in tone, is readily approachable and organized to lead novices through the unknown landscapes of DNA, natural selection, keystone species, and the like, with a minimum of mental discomfort. Examples have been carefully chosen to acquaint young people with the intricacies of interdependency and to explain why such a rich biodiversity is essential to planetary well-being. Also included are current efforts of scientific/conservation groups to name organisms before they vanish and to preserve habitats and the life forms that inhabit them. This lucid introduction is accompanied by bright, full-color photos, and its large format and well-planned layout are attractive and inviting. Even if you own Laurence Pringle's Living Treasure (Morrow, 1991), you should make space on the shelf for this lively new presentation.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

Kirkus Reviews

Patent (Children Save the Rain Forest, p. 903, etc.) stresses the importance of protecting the planet's rich gene pool for the survival of all species, and makes clear that seemingly insignificant species may provide medicines and products of great usefulness.

With plants and animals in tropical Costa Rica and the more temperate US as models, Patent demonstrates how life forms evolve, adapt, and become extinct. She describes the natural forces of evolution and the threat posed by people. Readers learn of the private and public efforts to catalog and conserve plants and animals, e.g., Costa Rica's National Institute of Biodiversity, a government program that trains local people to collect and categorize specimens. Although Patent mentions the government agreements with drug companies that encourage exploration in exchange for a percentage of the profit when useful substances are identified, there is no discussion of the ethical considerations. The many handsome, full-color photographs are not always well placed and sometimes are only marginally related to the text. Still, this is an attractive and personal discussion of an important issue.