This concise introductory text provides a complete overview of biodiversity - what it is, how it arose, its distribution, why it is important, human impact upon it, and what should be done to maintain it. Timely overview of the serious attempts made to quantify and describe biodiversity in a scientific wayActs as an easy entry point into the primary literatureProvides real-world examples of key issues, including illustrations of major temporal and spatial patterns in biodiversityDesigned primarily with undergraduate students and course lecturers in mind, it will also be of interest to anyone who requires an overview of, and entry to, the vast literature on these topics. The figures from in the book may be freely downloaded from the book website on wiley.com