Case study: Threat to the natural environment & biodiversity

"BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IS THE STUFF OF EVOLUTION"

 " A MASS EXTINCTION IS TAKING PLACE" WITH THE LOSS OF VARIETIES"

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The Convention on Biological Diversity defines biodiversity as:

"the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems."

Thus, biodiversity includes genetic variation within species, the variety of species in an area, and the variety of habitat types within a landscape.

 - CASE STUDY, consider apples  - "The Apples of New York"

How many apples varieties can you name that are commercially grown today?

How many apple varieties do you think were grown in New York State in 1905? Answer

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