Chapter 2
Chapter 2- Partners with God for a fruitful planet
This chapter concentrates on biodiversity. We give an overview of global biodiversity and habitats today and also consider biodiversity in the Bible and habitats familiar to Jesus. We investigate our responsibility for the world and introduce the concept of biblical stewardship.
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UPDATE 1
In Chapter 2 we mention some work one of Martin's undergraduate students, Nick Collinson, did in collaboration with Dr. Jeremy Biggs of Pond Conservation. Nick looked at temporary ponds (those ponds that routinely dry out), and found that they were much better for biodiversity than had previously been thought to be the case. Jeremy recently pointed out some work by John Downing and his colleagues, which suggests that there are more small freshwater bodies worldwide than scientists had reckoned on- in total freshwater takes up about twice as much space! In the last line of their abstract Downing et al. (2006) state "These analyses underscore the importance of explicitly considering lakes, ponds, and impoundments, especially small ones, in global analyses of rates and processes." Of course this means temporary ponds and other small water bodies may be more important than people thought in storage and release of carbon, and hence climate change. So don't underrate temporary ponds!
J.A. Downing et al. (2006) The global abundance and size distribution of lakes, ponds, and impoundments. Limnology and Oceanography 51, 2388–2397.
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UPDATE 2
Giant palm tree puzzles botanists - we also said that quite large species are still being discovered. This report from the BBC web site documents a newly discovered palm from Madagascar that is so large it can be seen on satellite images from space.
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Web Links to Resources used in this Chapter
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC. Published on-line at www.millenniumassessment.org
Nick Collinson, one of Martin's former undergraduate students, is now Head of Conservation Policy at the Woodland Trust- www.woodland-trust.org.uk
The work on temporary ponds described in this chapter was carried out in collaboration with Pond Action (now the Pond Conservation). See: www.pondconservation.org.uk
For the Wollemi Pine see: www.wollemipine.com