New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity

The second of three volumes, this account charts the progress of a scientific inventory of New Zealand's living and fossilized biodiversity. An intriguing guide, it focuses on Ecdysozoa (molting animals), the enigmatic phylum Chaetognatha (arrow worms), and the fossil traces of ancient animal activities. The project is an international effort involving more than 220 New Zealand specialists and, when completed, will include the almost 55,000 known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms in the country. To date, only New Zealand has compiled a checklist of its entire biota.

Dennis Gordon is a principal scientist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, where he led a marine biodiversity research group for 13 years. He is a former chairman of the Royal Society of New Zealand Committee on Biodiversity and the recipient of the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society Award.