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plant survival
CAN
HYDROPONICS
SAVE
THREATENED
PLANTS
SPECIES?
by Lee Allen
Due to various pressures, the planet is losing
plant diversity at an alarming rate. This is not
good for ecosystems or humans. Lee Allen asked
numerous experts for their opinion to see if
hydroponics could be part of the solution.
A
n annual report that examines the state of the world’s
plants shows that there are approximately 390,000
plant species globally, with 2,000 new species of plants
discovered each year. From a pure numbers perspective,
that is good news.
Researchers at England’s Royal Botanic Gardens Kew,
however, also note in their global assessment of flora that
“one in five of the known plant species is threatened with
extinction” due to a variety of factors like disease, urban
encroachment, and climate change. Damian Carrington,
environment editor at the Guardian, a British daily
newspaper with a continent-spanning team of environmental
journalists tracking the effects of man-made climate change,
quoted the director of the report as saying, “Plants are
absolutely fundamental to mankind—without them we would
not be here. We’re facing some devastating realities if we
don’t take stock and reexamine our priorities (because) the
genetic diversity in our foods is becoming poorer and poorer.”
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grow cycle