Species diversity is marked by some interesting facts--such as larger areas have more species, and diversity is particularly high near the equator. Other factors to consider are what reduces diversity in ecologically productive places and across what scales of space and time diversity patterns hold. This book examines these questions and many others, the author employing both theory and data in his search for answers. Surprisingly, many of the questions have reasonably likely answers. By identifying these, attention can be turned toward life's many still-unexplained diversity patterns. As evolutionary ecologists race to understand biodiversity before it is too late, this book will help set the agenda for diversity research into the next century and will be useful to graduate students and researchers in ecology and evolutionary and conservation biology.