Biodiversity Begins at Home

[I have searched to see if that slogan has been used anywhere else... it's the title of an article in an obscure journal from a few years ago.]

My understanding of the need for biodiversity is that for species to continue they need new genetic material, and they can't get that if there are only a few left.

Humanity has continuously reduced the number of species in large areas. This is true of many of the crops we grow for food. Corn for example; plus corn is so hybridized that the current breeds of corn can't survive without continuous chemical treatments (fertilizer, etc).

One example which was a complete surprise to me was the spread of apple trees in the North American continent. They are mostly planted from cuttings which means there is almost no genetic variance among them.

Another surprise was to learn that grass seed for lawns used to always have clover in it intentionally, but now that is a rarity: people are raising a strict monoculture of grass, which can only be done with weed killer, fertilizer and lots of watering.

So when I say Biodiversity starts at home, I mean we can plant many varieties of non-hybridized and native plants, and reduce the monoculture approach.