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Biologists say that while attempts to discover new species of animals and plants are relatively active, they are too neglected for plants that are already extinct or endangered. According to a large-scale follow-up of known plants, it is said that humans are extinct at a rate of 500 times that of nature.
The research team on plant extinction was conducted by the Environmental Plant Science Research Team at the University of Stockholm, Sweden and a joint research team composed of botanists at the Royal Botanic Gardens of England. They conducted the investigation using a database created through a tracking project on known plant species that had been pursued since 1988. Studies on more than 330,000 plant species have revealed that 571 species have become extinct from the 1750s to the present in 2019.
The number of 571 species is four times the number of endangered plants listed on the International Federation for Conservation of Nature. More than twice the combined number of extinctions of all mammals, birds and amphibians identified so far. Since 1900, three species have been extinct annually, and the rate of extinction is as high as 500 times that before the 18th century industrial revolution.
Moreover, the research team explained that the number of 571 species was severely underestimated. This number includes thousands of species of plants that exist in only one gender, or whose seed-carrying animals are already extinct in extinct form, but are likely to become extinct. It is also estimated that there are a number of species that were extinct before they were discovered.
The research team points out that a large number of plants are extinct, especially in regions with significant biodiversity and significant population growth, such as Madagascar, the Brazilian rainforest, India and South Africa. They also emphasize that plant extinction is a tragedy for all living things. Plants not only supply oxygen through photosynthesis, they are also the basis for food chains and ecosystems. If a plant becomes extinct because it is only one species, there is a possibility that other organisms will become extinct in a chain.
Experts say it’s not about what rich biodiversity will bring to humanity, but it’s time to think about what we can do for biodiversity. There is a growing sense of crisis over the devastating effects of plant extinction on life on Earth. Related information can be found here .
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