Introduction; Overview of Part 1: Evolution: Patterns and Processes; 1. Diversity in the past: comparing cladistic phylogenies and stratigraphy; 2. What can phylogenetic patterns tell us about the evolutionary processes generating biodiversity?; 3. New computer packages for analysing phylogenetic tree structure; 4. Is it ancient or modern history that we can read in the genes?; 5. Evolution of adaptive polymorphism in spatially heterogeneous environments; Overview of Part 2: Ecology: From populations to communities to ecosystems; 6. Local diversity: a problem with too many solutions; 7. The population dynamics of single host - multiparasitoid interactions; 8. Structural constraints on food web assembly; 9. Trophic interactions, nutrient supply, and the structure of freshwater pelagic food webs; 10. Linking communities and ecosystems: trophic interactions as nutrient cycling pathways; Overview of Part 3: Large scale diversity patterns and conservation; 11. Does climate cause the biodiversity gradient?; 12. Spatial covariance in the species richness of higher taxa; BIODIVERSITY OF PARASITES IN RELATION TO THEIR LIFE-CYCLE; 14. Biodiversity value and taxonomic relatedness; 15. Utilizing genetic information in plant conservation programmes; 16. Essential ingredients of real metapopulations, exemplified by the butterfly Plebejus argus; Index