A spectacular celebration of one the world''s most important domains.

Travel agents everywhere are preparing for "the Darwin Effect," a boom in travel to Ecuador in 2009 for the 50th anniversary of the creation of Galapagos National Park and the International Charles Darwin Foundation. This lavishly illustrated book is the official publication for these historic events.

This year also marks two other important milestones: the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin''s On the Origin of Species and the 200th anniversary of his birth.

In 2007, growing pressure on the natural habitat prompted UNESCO to put Galapagos on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Galapagos includes insightful essays and fascinating stories by 30 of the world''s leading Galapagos researchers, who describe the challenges and successes of conservation efforts, past and present. Tui de Roy''s images vividly show the seemingly alien beauty of the Galapagos landscape and wildlife.

This handsome book is an important resource for naturalists, botanists, photographers, researchers, students and all who want a permanent record of Darwin''s spectacular discovery.

The 28 chapters include:

• Islands on the Move: Significance of Hotspot Volcanoes
• Paleoclimate and the Future: A Knife-edge Balance
• Biodiversity Analysis: How Close to the Brink?
• Sunflower Trees and Giant Cacti: Vegetation Changes Over Time
• Inshore Fishes: The Case of the Missing Damsel
• Shark Migrations: Discovering the Golden Triangle
• Marine Iguanas: Their Boom and Bust Adaptations
• Darwin''s Finches: Investigating Evolution in Action
• The Waved Albatross: The Family Affairs of a Critically Endangered Species
• Penguins on the Equator: Hanging on by a Thread
• Sea Lions and Fur Seals: Cold Water Species on the Equator
• Reign on the Giant Tortoises: Repopulating Ancestral Islands
• Saving "Lost" Plants: Finding and Nurturing the Survivors
• Reflections on Dangers and Solutions: "Noe Reall Islands," But Paradise

Tui de Roy is a naturalist, an expert on Galapagos and the world''s preeminent Galapagos photographer. She is the author and photographer of New Zealand, The Andes and Albatross. She lives in New Zealand.

Sarah Darwin is a botanist and descendant of Charles Darwin. She lives in the United Kingdom.

Contributing writers include: Dennis Geist, volcanologist, University of Idaho; Julian Sachs, paleoclimatologist, University of Washington; Conley K. McMullen, botanist, James Madison University, Virginia; Jack S. Grove, naturalist and research associate, Section of Ichthyology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Alex Hearn, adjunct marine biologist, University of California- Davis; Martin Wikelski and Michael Romero, physiological ecologists, Max Planck Institute, Germany, and Tufts University, Massachusetts; Peter and Rosemary Grant, evolutionary biologists, Princeton University, New Jersey; Patricia Parker, disease ecologist, WildCare institute, Saint Louis Zoo, Missouri; David Anderson, evolutionary biologist, Wake Forest University, North Carolina; Kathryn Huyvaert, ecologist, Colorado State University; Karl Campbell, Island Conservation, California; Godfrey Merlen, naturalist and independent researcher, WildAid, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Tui De Roy, editor and principal photographer ; Foreword by Sarah Darwin