ENVS 3040 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Agricultural Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, Habitat Fragmentation
18 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
In this section we consider the importance of plant biodiversity and the benefits that an abundance and variety of plants have given to human civilizations. Discuss the benefits of plant biodiversity to human civilization. Explore the threats to plant biodiversity today, and suggest why this is of concern for the long-term survival of human civilization. Describe the ways in which biodiversity can be maintained. Explain the term ecosystem service, and provide examples of services associated with various ecosystems. Describe ecotourism and the facts that may affect its success in conserving ecosystems (tuxill 1999) appreciating the benefits of plant biodiversity. Plant biodiversity, in particular, is arguably the single greatest resource that humankind has garnered from nature during our long cultural development. Within just the hundred-odd species of cultivated plants that supply most of the (cid:449)o(cid:396)ld"s food, traditional farmers have selected and developed hundreds of thousands of distinct genetic varieties.
