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The human population exploits and depends on many animal and plant species for food, mainly through agriculture, but also by exploiting wild populations, notably of marine fish. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] [ 12 ] Livestock animals are raised for meat across the world; they include (2011) around 1.4 billion cattle , 1.2 billion sheep and 1 billion domestic pigs .
Animals require complex nutrients such as carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins, obtaining them by consuming other organisms. Humans have developed agriculture and cooking to replace foraging and advance human nutrition. Plants acquire nutrients through the soil and the atmosphere.
Many plants and animals have coevolved in such a way that the fruit is a good source of nutrition to the animal who then excretes the seeds some distance away, allowing greater dispersal. [59] Even seed predation can be mutually beneficial, as some seeds can survive the digestion process.
Global average human diet and protein composition and usage of crop-based products [11] (more statistics) Humans eat thousands of plant species; there may be as many as 75,000 edible species of angiosperms, of which perhaps 7,000 are often eaten. [12] Most human plant-based food calories come from maize, rice, and wheat. [13]
Selenium, which is an essential element for animals and prokaryotes and is a beneficial element for many plants, is the least-common of all the elements essential to life. [ 3 ] [ 63 ] Selenium acts as the catalytic center of several antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase , [ 11 ] and plays a wide variety of other biological roles .
Different non-human animals unwillingly help humans with creating medicine that can treat certain human diseases. For example, the anticoagulant properties of snake venom are key to potential medical use. These toxins can be used to treat heart disease, pulmonary embolism, and many other diseases, all of which may originate from blood clots.
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Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems.