Species homogeneity
In
Monocultures
Homogeneity in agriculture and forestry; in particular, industrial agriculture and forestry use a limited number of species.[1] About 7,000 plants (2.6% of all plant species) have been collected or cultivated for human consumption. Of these, a mere 200 have been domesticated and only a dozen contribute about 75% of the global intake of plant-derived calories.
95% of world consumption of protein derives from a few domesticated species, i.e.
Species migration
Species naturally
Using species richness as the unit for which to assess global homogeneity, it appears that anthropogenic assistance in alien species establishment has done much to reduce the number of endemic species, especially on remote islands. Some 'species-poor' habitats may, however, benefit in diversity if an invader can occupy an empty niche. Arguably, that environment becomes more diverse, equally it has also "become more similar to the rest of the world",
Introduction of non-endemic species and subsequent eradication of species can happen remarkably fast; evolutionary tempo is, however, slow and "succession of rapid change [will] result in a great impoverishment".[8] That impoverishment will indeed equate in a world that is more similar, as there will simply be less species to formulate difference.
See also
- Degeneracy
- Habitat destruction
- Habitat fragmentation
- Introduced species
- Over-exploitation
- Species gradients
References
- ^ Luc Hens and Emmanuel K. Boon Causes of Biodiversity Loss: a Human Ecological Analysis, MultiCiencia. Human Ecology Department, Belgium.
- ^ "Food Security and Biodiversity. Biodiversity in Development" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
- ISBN 0-471-92085-1
- .
- PMID 17750551.
- doi:10.1038/41665.
- .
- JSTOR 1933371.