9729452 Williams Knowledge of earth's biological resources, the species and the communities they constitute on land and in the sea, has grown with human use and management of those resources. With use and development has come a growing appreciation of the sustainability, and at times vulnerability, of natural biological systems and of individual species of organisms. Uninformed or misguided uses have resulted in disruption and destruction of natural ecological processes, with direct or indirect consequences on the size and health of populations of plants, animals, and microbes. At the same time, exploration on earth has revealed novel organisms and communities, often existing at environmental extremes heretofore unimagined. The sense of wonder that accompanies this new knowledge of novel species and communities clashes with the sense of urgency about effective stewardship of biological resources around the globe. Many of these issues have come to be subsumed under the term "biodiversity" which at its core is concerned with the study of earth's living organisms, their interactions in natural or human-managed communities, and their sustainability in the face of global environmental processes and human uses. Following 11 years upon a national Forum on Biodiversity that brought widespread scientific and public attention to these issues, the National Academy of Sciences is hosting a second forum to assess progress and define challenges in the continuing study of earth's biological heritage. Leading scientists and resource managers will convene under the aegis of the Academy and of supporting organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The meetings and workshops, and the print publications resulting from these discussions, will be extended through Web-based dissemination and continuing discussion via the Internet.
