Green Machine: Ecology and the Balance of Nature

All life is part of the green machine - that subtle and complex balance of nature which is the ecosystem and which is now threatened by so many human activities. This book is aimed at understanding that balance and how it is maintained. The author gradually builds up an in-depth picture of the way animals and plants interact to produce the entire ecosystem, adding an evolutionary dimension by looking back at the history of the ecosphere over time spans ranging from a few generations to four billion years. Only when this picture is complete does the book go on to consider the man-nature interface.