This volume takes readers on a journey through the earth's habitats and ecosystems. It explains how plants and animals are designed to survive, how they rely on the natural resources around them, and shows how they all, ultimately, depend on one another. The book is divided into three broad sections. In Life-styles, we look at animals and plants--grazers and hunters, predators, migrating animals, parasites, and creatures who live in very cold or very hot climates. In Life on Earth, various regions of the world are explored--mountains and valleys, prairies and grasslands, the hot desert, and life in and under the sea. And in Threats to Life, we focus on "the ark under threat." But author Michael Scott shows how we can learn from extinction and pollution and change our ways to leave the planet fit for the future. An index and glossary make The Young Oxford Book of Ecology an excellent reference tool, and the color photographs and drawings throughout are superb.