Without repeated infusions of new genes from the wild, geneticists cannot continue to improve staple crops. Humans share the planet with at least 10 million other animal and plant species. Biological diversity is crucial to the world's ecology, and probably to the future of humanity itself. Yet human actions and numbers are sending thousand of species into extinction most in areas where human population density is highest. Human Exploitation Humankind's current patterns of resource exploitation do not bode well for the future of biodiversity.
People today use almost half the energy needed to keep all of the earth's species going.
Over-exploitation of plants is worrisome, as plants provide the link to all other forms of life, through photosynthesis. Plant species are not faring well, either.