A World in One Cubic Foot by David Liittschwager

Annabella Macris

29 November 2012

To understand a complex issue it can help to be able to visualise it. Biodiversity is no exception. No matter how many times we're told about biodiversity do we ever truly appreciate its importance? We rarely see the full picture. Noticing an occasional squirrel is a good start but by no means it. A multitude of creatures exist all around us whose faces we'll never gaze on and whose names we'll never know.

David Liittschwager's beautiful new book, A World in One Cubic Foot, provides a window on this hidden world. Entire ecosystems are expertly revealed layer by layer. Liittschwager is an esteemed nature photographer who's turned his lens to the real stars of our planet - the overlooked plants and little creatures whose daily activities have turned a sterile rock into a biosphere abundant with life. Our very existence relies on them.

The book examines how much life can be found in one day in just one cubic foot. It feautures 6 habitats from across the planet - from a coral reef in French Polynesia to Central Park in New York City.

In each location a green metal cubic foot frame was dropped into the habitat and the results were photographed and analysed, with the help of local scientists.

"The entire ground habitat is alive," writes biologist EO Wilson in the foreword. The variety of life is astounding and so is the fact that it's all linked.

Moving the cube marginally left or right would have revealed different plants, pollinators, herbivores and so forth up the food chain. This would have resulted in a different publication - but one just as captivating.

Had the project been photographed a few years in the future, there would be less diversity, and fewer pages in the book - a chilling thought. Our diversity is thinning at alarming rates and more plants and animals are appearing on the red list of threatened species.

The world is balanced on the shoulders of these little guys and yet we continue to crash through their delicate microsystems with pesticides and concrete.

This large-format 200-page coffee-table book would make a great gift. Inspirational photography is interleaved with commentary from distinguished contributors. A must for environmentalists, nature lovers, the curious - and for children, who need to know about their world.

With any luck this book could mark a turning point in our appreciation of biodiversity. If you can say "I see" hopefully you'll go on to say "I will I look after". The alternative is a monocultured world - boring and deadly.

Annabella Macris, Volunteer