1. Introduction and the evolution of life on earth Norman Maclean; 2. Flowering plants Sara Oldfield and Lauren Gardiner; 3. Bryophytes and Pteridophytes; Spore-bearing land plants Mary Gibby; 4. Terrestrial mammals Alexis M. Mychajliw; 5. Marine mammals: exploited for millennia, but still holding on Alexis M. Mychajliw and Thomas A. Jefferson; 6. Birds Tristram Allinson; 7. Reptiles Philip Bowles; 8. Amphibians Phillip J. Bishop ¿ , Sally Wren, Ariadne Angulo and Richard A. Griffiths; 9. Freshwater fishes: threatened species and threatened waters on a global scale Peter B. Moyle and Robert A. Leidy; 10. The amazing yet threatened world of marine fishes Mark A. Hixon and Brian W. Bowen; 11. Insects Manu E. Saunders, Simon Leather ¿, Jenni Stockan and David Yeates; 12. Marine invertebrates Alex David Rogers, Patricia Miloslavich, David Obura and Octavio Aburto-Oropreza; 13. Non-insect terrestrial arthropods Gonzalo Giribet; 14. Terrestrial invertebrates other than arthropods and molluscs Gonzalo Giribet; 15. Non-marine Molluscs Robert H. Cowie, Benoît Fontaine and Philippe Bouchet; 16. An account of the diversity and conservation of fungi and their close relatives Gregory Mueller and Jessica L. Allen; 17. Simple life forms Norman Maclean; 18. Assessing species conservation status: the IUCN red list and green status Molly Grace; 19. Problems with the world`s ecosystems Matt W. Hayward; 20. Conservation methods and successes Norman Maclean; 21. What does the future hold for our planet and its wildlife? Norman Maclean; Index.