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View all search resultsWatch out for invasive alien species
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Fairy ink cap fungi, Coprinellus, growing on a moss-covered fallen tree in temperate rainforest. (Shutterstock/KarenHBlack)
T
he number of species cultivated for consumption is actually very limited; out of millions of species of plants and animals, no more than 3,000 serve the needs of humans. From these thousands, the major species in use amount to no more than 50 or 100.
Plants producing carbohydrates for our staple food, for instance, are mostly cereals or grains, from which corn, wheat and rice are the most commonly cultivated species.
Beverages number fewer than 10, with coffee, tea and cocoa being the top three crops. There are also legumes, estate crops, vegetables, ornamentals and some other plants. The number of domesticated animals we have for consumption is fewer than crops.
In short, less than 1 percent of Earth’s species is exploited by humans, yet there are so many of them that some species may take up over half the space available for all living beings.
