CONTENT: This important new hall is devoted to the most pressing environmental issue of our time - preserving the variety and interdependence of Earth's living things, or "biodiversity," and its critical importance to human survival. The Hall defines biodiversity, demonstrates its importance to life as we know it, examines the major issues involved in preserving biodiversity, and offers striking testimony to the extraordinary variety and beauty of life. The exhibits in the Hall also document current species and habitat losses and offer information on what individuals can do to help stem the tide of extinction. In an era in which some 30,000 of Earth's estimated 10 million to 13 million species go extinct each year, threatening all life on our planet, the American Museum of Natural History is working to educate the public about this critical issue. This hall plays a key role in those efforts.

EXHIBITS: Exhibits in the Hall reflect the two "faces" of biodiversity: ecological and evolutionary biodiversity. Ecological biodiversity is illustrated by a new form of diorama and by a dramatic global tour of nine distinct biomes.

 · The diorama - one of the largest museum dioramas in the world - re-creates in meticulous detail a portion of the rainforest of the Central African Republic. Expanding on the Museum's magnificent legacy of re-creations of place, the diorama employs high-resolution imagery, video, and sound to create a life-like environment in which animals appear to move through the forest and lighting effects simulate the forest ambiance at different times of day. In addition, the rainforest is shown in three different states: pristine, altered by natural forces, and degraded by human intervention. Visitors are invited behind the glass wall that traditionally forms a barrier between viewers and the scene depicted, and are thus immersed in this ever-changing, diverse, severely threatened ecosystem.

 · The breadth and beauty of Earth's ecosystems are also vividly illustrated in a multi-screen video installation that explores the relative status of peril and preservation of nine distinct ecosystems. Each video moves from pristine to degraded habitat, and shows footage of potential and current solutions to the degradation. The biomes are further explored through texts and maps showing their distribution across the globe.

The evolutionary aspect of biodiversity is illustrated by a grand assemblage of some 1,500 specimens and models.

 · Mounted in a 100-foot-long installation along one wall and extending out overhead, this spectacular collection of life forms vividly conveys the awe-inspiring diversity of life on Earth. Encompassing 28 evolutionary groups, resulting from 3.5 billion years of evolution, the creatures in the "Spectrum of Life" range from microorganisms to terrestrial and aquatic giants, and include bacteria, plants, fish, mammals, and insects

As the status of biodiversity is continuously changing, this hall needs to assume a current viewpoint, as well as the traditional retrospective one. An electronic "Bio-Bulletin" offers a continually updated look at the effects on biodiversity of events such as fires, deforestation, global warming, habitat fragmentation, and El Niño. Explanatory commentary accompanies all reported events.

An exhibit in the center of the Hall examines the five previous massive extinctions and the current, sixth, one. A timeline of the six extinctions, embedded in a case on the floor, includes specimens of species lost, while a nearby display case contains examples of endangered and extinct creatures, with information on the causes of their endangerment or extinction.

OTHER: An introductory video, narrated by Tom Brokaw, provides RESOURCES visitors to the Hall with an overview of biodiversity and the role it plays in the survival of life as we know it.

In the "Crisis Resource Center" a row of ten computer stations offers interactive activities in which users learn about the effects of everyday decisions on biodiversity. The stations also provide a database of environmental organizations, access to relevant Web sites, a bibliography of information on biodiversity, and a database of individual solutions. On one side of the computer stations a "Transformation Wall" consists of text, graphics, and video examining transformations to the biosphere. On the other side of the terminals, the "Solutions Wall" consists of texts on ways to slow the changes that are causing loss of biodiversity.

SQUARE: The Hall measures 11,000 square feet; the rainforest diorama 2,500 FOOTAGE square feet.

LOCATION: American Museum of Natural History, first floor (in the former Hall of Invertebrates)

ORGANIZATION: Dozens of people are involved in the creation of the Hall of Biodiversity. Chief curator of the Hall is Niles Eldredge, curator in the Museum's Department of Invertebrates. Dr. Eldredge's co-curators at the Museum are Joel Cracraft, curator, Department of Ornithology, and Francesca Grifo, director, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS AND PROGRAMS: Life in the Balance: Humanity and the Biodiversity Crisis, by Dr. Eldredge (Princeton University Press), examines the themes of the Hall of Biodiversity. A number of additional publications, as well as special programs, have been developed to complement the Hall. These will be described in upcoming press releases and brochures.