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Article: Biodiversity
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BIODIVERSITY
The continued health of human societies depends upon a natural environment that is productive and contains a wide diversity of plant, animal, and microbe species. Life on the earth comprises at least 10 million species of plants, animals, and microbes, while in the United States there are an estimated 750,000 species, of which small organisms such as anthropods and microbes comprise 95 percent.
The sustainability of the forest ecosystems and other natural ecosystems are in danger from the expanding world population, which now totals more than 6 billion. With an estimated growth rate of 1.4 percent per year, it is projected to reach 12 billion by the year 2050. Further, due ...