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A thinning in which the trees removed have little or no economic value is called a pre-commercial thinning. Ecological thinning is a variant of this being studied for use in forest conservation. The primary aim of forest thinning is to increase growth of selected trees, but ecological thinning is done to favor development of wildlife habitat ...
It can refer to the naturally occurring genetic variability within and between populations of a species, for example wild relatives of food crops, or to the variability created by humans, for example farmer-developed traditional crop varieties called landraces, or commercially bred varieties of a crop (e.g. different apple varieties: Fuji ...
Crop diversity or crop biodiversity is the variety and variability of crops, plants used in agriculture, including their genetic and phenotypic characteristics. It is a subset of a specific element of agricultural biodiversity .
However, they cover different concepts: Agriculture is the set of activities that transform the environment for the production of animals and plants for human use. Agriculture concerns techniques, including the application of agronomic research. Agronomy is research and development related to studying and improving plant-based crops.
Almost one-third of the world's forests, and almost two-thirds of its grassland, have been lost to human agriculture—which now occupies almost half the world's habitable land. [ 22 ] Geist and Lambin (2002) assessed 152 case studies of net losses of tropical forest cover to determine any patterns in the proximate and underlying causes of ...
Nonetheless, an estimated 87.5% of the world's flowering plant species are animal-pollinated, [36] and 60% of crop plant species [37] use animal pollinators. This includes the majority of fruits, many vegetables, and also fodder. [38] According to the USDA 80% of insect crop pollination in the US is due to honey bees. [39]
The crops were grown in simulated Martian regolith - soil with no organic matter - developed by NASA researchers that is a near-perfect physical and chemical match to real Martian soil.
Slash-and-burn farmers typically plant a variety of crops, instead of a monoculture, and contribute to a higher biodiversity due to creating mosaic habitats. The general ecosystem is not harmed in traditional slash-and-burn, aside from a small temporary patch. This technique is most unsuitable for the production of cash crops. A huge amount of ...