Hosting an astonishing array of living things, our hospitable planet is becoming less so for many species. An introduction to this special issue. By Joel L. Swerdlow. Photograph at right by Frans Lanting.

Millennium Supplement: Biodiversity

Species too numerous to count are disappearing too quickly to record. From Central America to Asia, five articles take you to the front lines of the fight to save Earth’s biological treasures. By Virginia Morell. Photographs by Frans Lanting.

Read the complete NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC story “The Sixth Extinction.”

Read our essay and share your thoughts in our forum.

Diving beneath a stark, frozen desert, ocean explorers discover a world of startling color, clarity, and life. Article and photographs by Norbert Wu.

In a remote clearing in the Central African Republic, biologist Andrea Turkalo observes the lives of endangered animals that until recently were only glimpsed through the trees. Photographs by Michael Fay and Michael Nichols.

Under a high-powered microscope the silica shells of single-celled algae are revealed in all their manifold beauty. Article and photographs by Darlyne A. Murawski.

In nutrient-poor forests ants and plants have evolved to meet each other’s needs. Rare photographs from Borneo show the only known swimming ants helping their hosts—pitcher plants—digest other insects. Article and photographs by Mark W. Moffett.

Journey to the Heart of the Sahara; Photographing the Sahara From Aloft; North Florida Springs; Steller’s Sea-Eagles; El Niño/La Niña; In the Wake of the Spill; Unmasking the Snapping Turtle.