A beautiful and diverse world -- Introduction -- A diverse earth -- The Fenno-Scandia alpine tundra and taiga -- The European mountains -- The Mediterranean Basin -- The Rift Valley Lakes -- The East African acacia savannas -- The Congo basin -- The Cape region -- The Madagascar forests and shrublands -- Maldives-Lakshadweep-Chagos Archipelago tropical moist forests -- The Terai-Duar savannas and grasslands -- The Sundarbans mangroves -- Borneo's peat swamp forests -- The Daurian steppe -- The East Siberian taiga -- The Bering Sea -- The northwestern Australian deserts -- The Great Barrier Reef -- New Caledonia's moist forests -- The Hawaiian forests -- Rapa Nui -- The Galápagos Islands -- The Northern prairie of North America -- The Chihuahuan Desert -- The Greater Antilles : Cuba -- The Llanos savannas of Colombia and Venezuela -- The Amazon River and flooded forests -- The Patagonian steppes -- The Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea.