• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Environment

More than a third of world’s plant species ‘are exceedingly rare and vulnerable to climate change’

Researchers spent a decade compiling the largest plant biodiversity dataset ever created

Steve Beech by Steve Beech
2019-11-27 19:00
in Environment, News
Credit;SWNS

Credit;SWNS

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

More than a third of the world’s plant species are “exceedingly” rare and vulnerable to climate change, warns a new study.

Researchers spent a decade compiling the largest plant biodiversity dataset ever created. 

They recorded almost half a million unique land plant species, and found that rare species are clustered in biodiversity hotspots because of their historically stable climates. 

But these once-stable environments are increasingly under threat from humans which could lead to a drastic cut in global plant biodiversity. 

Lead researcher Dr Brian Enquist, at Arizona University in the US, said: “Just because these species enjoyed a relatively stable climate in the past doesn’t mean they’ll enjoy a stable future. 

Credit;SWNS

“These very rare-species hotspots are projected to experience a disproportionately high rate of future climatic changes and human disruption.”

He added: “We learned that in many of these regions, there’s increasing human activity such as agriculture, cities and towns, land use and clearing. 

RelatedPosts

‘Ofgem to blame’ as energy bills set to hit £4,200 in January

People react to video clip entitled ‘come with me to Brixton’

Health staff praised as NHS backlog of two-year waits shrinks from 22,500 to below 200

Martin Lewis warns of mobile firms going rogue with post-Brexit roaming charges

“So that’s not exactly the best of news.”

A total of 35 researchers from around the world worked for 10 years to create the humongous plant biodiversity dataset, recording about 435,000 unique land plant species.

Dr Enquist added: “That’s an important number to have, but it’s also just bookkeeping.

“What we really wanted to understand is the nature of that diversity and what will happen to this diversity in the future. 

“Some species are found everywhere – they’re like the Starbucks of plant species. But others are very rare – think a small standalone café.”

The team revealed that 36.5 per cent of all land plant species are “exceedingly rare,” meaning they have been observed and recorded fewer than five times ever.

Dr Enquist added: “According to ecological and evolutionary theory, we’d expect many species to be rare, but the actual observed number we found was actually pretty startling. There are many more rare species than we expected.”

The researchers also found that rare plants tend to cluster in a handful of hotspots, such as the Northern Andes in South America, Costa Rica, South Africa, Madagascar and Southeast Asia. 

These regions, they found, remained climatologically stable as the world emerged from the last ice age, allowing such rare species to persist.

But scientists say these plant hotspots are now facing unparalleled threats from climate change and human intervention. 

Moreover, the low numbers of these plants makes them especially prone to extinction, something which would slash biodiversity. 

The researchers hope their work can help reduce loss of global biodiversity by informing conservation action.

Dr Enquist said: “By focusing on identifying rare species this work is better able to highlight the dual threats of climate change and human impact on the regions that harbour much of the world’s rare plant species.

“It also emphasises the need for strategic conservation to protect these cradles of biodiversity.”

The findings were published in the journal Science Advances to coincide with the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid.

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

As Govt push people to return to office Tory Minister isn’t sure how many staff he wants back

Westerns That Aren’t Westerns or are they?

Hunt’s Deputy Dunne sacked for telling patients “There are seats available in most hospitals, where beds are not available.”

Tory welfare chief: Benefit cap designed to ‘win votes’, not save money

Seven ways to save money on your divorce

West Brom complete deal to take striker from Cardiff City

Christian Wakeford explains his decision to defect to Labour

Nine-foot wide house goes on sale in London for £1.3 million

A weekend in Torshavn: The cosy capital

Why the Cambridge Analytica scandal could be much more serious than you think:

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.