EFFECTS ON INTRASPECIFIC BIODIVERSITY FROM HARVESTING AND ENHANCING NATURAL-POPULATIONS

Harvesting natural populations is practiced for many animal and plant species and frequently constitutes a part of the management of those p opulations. Similarly, enhancement through the release of captively br ed animals and cultivated plants is an increasingly common practice in the management and protection of biological resources. Both harvest a nd enhancement may, however, constitute potential threats to biodivers ity at the gene level. Many of these perils are not recognized today, and strategies for carrying out these activities in a genetically sust ainable manner are largely lacking. The potentially negative effects o n intraspecific biodiversity caused by harvest and enhancement are par ticularly serious when managing economically important species since t hose programs are typically carried out on a very large scale. Contrar y to the potential perils associated with high technology DNA engineer ing and the release, or escape, of transgenic organisms, these genetic manipulations presently attract very little attention.