He floats you across complex gene pools, makes you worship at the temple of biologist Lynn Margulis, known for her spirited advocacy of new ways of looking at early life that helped to reveal the riches of cladistics. Then he takes you on safari through a vibrant living world replete with solar-powered ecosystems. The most biodiverse of these such as rainforests and coral reefs are found in tropical regions that are short on nutrients. Selection acts on species struggling to survive in harsh environments. Natural selection is the capacity to adjust to any changes by seizing each and every new advantage on offer.
Biodiversity is the product of species repeatedly chiselling out niches in complex systems.
Sustainability is manifest in Africa, the birthplace of humanity and the last continent to support a full portfolio of megafauna. The answer is that we humans evolved in concert with, and literally as part of the African ecosystems. The big hairies know us well. From then on, biodiverse self-balancing ecosystems have been replaced with monocultures and overgrazing. So awesome a story does he relate that the illustrations might seem out of keeping with a book about biodiversity and humanity.