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Article: Biodiversity
- Article from:
- Plant Sciences
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 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
Biodiversity exists at three interrelated levels: species diversity, genetic diversity, and community-level diversity. When we talk about plant biodiversity, we refer to the full range of plant species, the genetic variation found within those species, and the biological communities formed by those species. For vascular plants, biodiversity includes all species of ferns,
gymnosperms
, flowering plants, and related smaller groups such as clubmosses and horsetails. The genetic variation found within
populations
and among populations arises through the mutation of individual genes or chromosomes and is rearranged by genetic recombination during the sexual process. Genetic ...