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Research has determined that plants can recognize each other's root systems and differentiate between a clone, a plant grown from the same mother plants seeds, and other species. Based on the root secretions, also called exudates, plants can make this determination. [ 47 ]
Modern seed sizes range from 0.0001 mg in orchid seeds to 42 kilograms (92 lb 10 oz) in double coconuts. [7] [2] Larger seeds have larger quantities of metabolic reserves in their embryo and endosperm available for the seedling [8] than smaller seeds, and often aid establishment under low resource availability. [9]
Each closely related species differs in beak size and beak depth, allowing them to coexist in the same region since each species eats a different type of seed: the seed best fit for its unique beak. The finches with the deeper, stronger beaks consume large, tough seeds, while the finches with smaller beaks consume the smaller, softer seeds.
The Global Crop Diversity Trust is an independent international organisation which exists to ensure the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide. It was established through a partnership between the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and CGIAR acting through Bioversity International. [25]
Above the species level, plant lineages clearly vary in their tendency for annuality or perenniality (e.g., wheat vs. oaks). On a microevolutionary timescale, a single plant species may show different annual or perennial ecotypes (e.g., adapted to dry or tropical range), as in the case of the wild progenitor of rice (Oryza rufipogon).
Among plants, size asymmetry is context-dependent and competition can be both asymmetric and symmetric depending on the most limiting resource. In forest stands, below-ground competition for nutrients and water is size-symmetric, because a tree's root system is typically proportionate to the biomass of the entire tree. [ 22 ]
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. [1] Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in the cities.
Food biodiversity is defined as "the diversity of plants, animals and other organisms used for food, covering the genetic resources within species, between species and provided by ecosystems." [ 1 ] Food biodiversity can be considered from two main perspectives: production and consumption.