The Balance of Nature and Human Impact. Klaus Rohde, editor. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 426 pp. ISBN 97811070109614 (hardcover), $99 Human impact on the natural environment has reached unprecedented levels. Humans are present on all continents; almost all ecosystems have been modified by human activities through habitat loss and fragmentation, overexploitation, pollution, and invasive species. More than 35% of the land area is used for agriculture and built-up areas, 40% of the terrestrial productivity is appropriated by humans, 50% of all coral reefs are lost or degraded, 70% of recognized marine fisheries are fully exploited, over- exploited or depleted; humans use more than 50% of the available runoff of fresh water. In addition, human emissions of greenhouse gases and other pol- lutants have been associated with global climatic changes. The scale of the human impact on the planet now has global consequences; thus, many sci- entists argue that the world has entered a new era designated the Anthropocene. This book summarizes ecological responses to global environmental change; it is relevant to inter- ested readers of different backgrounds trying to un- derstand why scientists are worried about current environmental change. Evidence shows that in geo- logical times species have appeared and disappeared as the climate and ecosystems changed. Ecosystems are dynamic and adapted to those changes, however, as clearly demonstrated in Chapter 13, past climatic changes have occurred over large temporal scales, while human-induced impacts are occurring at a much faster rate. The question then is: will popula- tions, communities, and ecosystems be able to re- spond to these fast changes in the environment or will the earth lose a large part of its biological diver- sity? This is discussed in detail in Part V, which is particularly interesting to students and the general public; it gives an overview of the impacts of human activities for a range of taxonomic groups. The book starts with Kevin Gaston’s foreword and an analogy between stability concepts needed for sea kayaking and instability in the natural world caused by human impact. This is an excellent introduction to the book. Humans are changing the stability con- ditions in the natural environment, ultimately pop- ulation managers need to understand if disturbance of natural systems will require small adjustments to retain populations and communities at the same level (primary or initial stability in kayaking that enables the kayak to rock in the water) or if it will cause large disturbance and ‘‘tipping points’’ that rapidly throw populations and communities from one state to another (secondary or final stability in kayaking which is a measure of how readily a kayak capsizes). Equilibrium states will differ in the number of individuals, populations, species, and communities they can support and this will have large consequences for ecosystem services provided to humans. Simpler ecosystems (with fewer species) are less resilient and have less multifunctionality (Maestre et al. 2012) thus, delivering fewer ecosystem services. The challenge for humans will be to under- stand how much impact and change the planet’s nat- ural environment supports before the occurrence of ‘‘tipping points’’ that will jeopardize the planet’s ca- pacity to deliver the ecosystem services that support seven billion people (probably nine billion by 2050). Ecosystem services are not at all mentioned in this book; this is a lost opportunity as this framework can help conservation biologists talk to the general public and to politicians (Fisher et al. 2008). The Balance of Nature and Human Impact, edited by Klaus Rohde at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia, is composed of 27 chapters, each written by a specialist or specialists who have sum- marized information for their respective areas of study. Thirty authors contributed their expertise to the book. Rohde’s book has chapters that are written primarily for those seeking reviews of current knowl- edge about specific topics, but most suit students and the interested general public. It covers marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments; and a range of taxonomic groups, from plants to nematodes, birds, and mammals. The book has seven parts. The first focuses on nonequilibrium and equilibrium in populations and meta-populations. Part II focuses on communities, including key examples of nonequilibrium conditions such as the paradox of the plankton and how fire affects alternative stable states in communities; sta- bility in communities of ectoparasites in fish and mammals are also examined and this section finishes with a macroecological approach of the equilibrium/ nonequilibrium debate using bird populations and communities. Parts III and IV examine equilibrium or nonequilibrium states at a macroecological scale looking at the effect of geographic scales and lati- tude. Part V focuses on the effects caused by invad- ing species, habitat loss, and climatic change that emphasize nonequilibrium conditions. Part VI exam- ines the importance of autecology and Part VII has concluding remarks that are clearly written and pre- sented; this section summarizes the main messages of the book. Book reviews 1017 ß The Author 2013. 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