According to the DNR, prior to European settlement, more than 18 million acres of prairie covered the state of Minnesota. With its fertile soil and nutritious grasses, prairies became the basis for an agricultural empire in the state. How does the The Minnesota Biological Survey (1987-2017) and the resulting map aid in your understanding of current species diversity in the state?

B)The map presents a visual representation of the reduction of native prairie from 18 million to 250 thousand acres, which therefore represents a huge decline in biodiversity.

"1. it should be, it has been for about 20 years, and it's really not much different in the end than breeding animals to have particular traits. there are always concerns about genetically engineered animals/plants affecting the environment in unexpected negative ways, but i can't think of an example where the fears didn't turn out to be baseless.  

first, as you point out, it would be a great advance in pharmacology, to be able to tailor drugs and their doses to me. the pros involve better medical treatment. the cons involve privacy issues like insurance companies denying coverage to people with genetic risk factors. looking at dna markers wouldn't affect the frequency of genetic diseases, but it would allow detection of them earlier. and ok, actually i suppose that if people used this information to avoid having children with genetic diseases, some might decrease in frequency."

igneous rocks which formed by the crystallization of magma at the surface of the earth called extrusive rocks. they are characterized by fine-grained textures because the rapid cooling at or near the surface did not provide enough time for large crystals to grow.