Inheritors of the Earth by Chris D. Thomas

But it thrives in such places as New Zealand, where it is now the leading timber tree (as Radiata pine).

Will require a reread to get it all down.Ī local story: the Monterey pine, Pinus radiata, is indigenous to coastal California, and barely hanging on here with rising temps and drying climate. Best pop-science book of 2017, for me anyway. He cites dozens of specific examples worldwide, which makes for fascinating armchair science, and reinforces his points. The great strength of the book is that Thomas is a working scientist. Usually longer, but the great human-caused reshuffling of the world's life that's in progress has opportunity for creating new species, along with extinction for the less fit. So it's possible to generate a new species in a fast-reproducing organism in a century or so. Thomas demonstrates how rapidly evolution can occur, and that there is no real difference between 'natural' evolution and selective breeding: both are Darwinian processes, selecting for fitness in each generation, using the natural range of genetic variation in each species.

And more (but different) biological diversity, with human aid. These changes are irreversible, but there are upsides. Humans have profoundly altered ecosystems for at least the past 10,000 years. Life is flexible, and successful species, well, *succeed*. He points out that all is not gloom and doom.

Thomas writes well, and is good at skewering the illogical 'certainties' of certain conservation activists.

Inheritors of the Earth by Chris D. Thomas