ENVS200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Dung Beetle, Biodiversity Hotspot, Keystone Species
20 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Genetic variation in a population allows for adaptive response to environmental changes. Unfortunately, many agricultural crops, like the banana, have low genetic diversity. The banana reproduced clonally by dividing the underground stem. All this makes the banana vulnerable to diseases because this single species of banana cannot response to diseases well. In turn, this makes the supply of banana (and other agricultural crops) for human consumption insecure. Endemic species: occurs in a single geographic area, susceptible to extinction. Ubiquitous species: widespread geographic distribution, difficult to get rid of. Hot spots are: a region that supports at least 1500 endemic plant species and has lost more than 70 percent of its original habitat: (vascular) plant diversity is the biological basis for most hot spots. Keystone species: a plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions: without keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether (eg. beaver)
