A new report has warned that more than 20 percent of the world's plant species risk extinction due to loss of habitat. The warning comes from the first global report of its kind from the Royal Botanic Gardens in London.
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The "State of the World's Plants" released on Monday was drawn up by botanists at Kew Gardens in west London, which has one of the largest collections in its greenhouses and sprawling gardens in the world - and the predictions are alarming.
Experts said many parts of the world were suffering rapid change, such as from the razing of tropical forests to make way for farms and cities as well as climate change from human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels.
"There's a huge change going on, mainly agricultural change and land for urbanization," said Kathy Willis, the center's director of science. The report, meant as a first annual audit of the plant kingdom and omits algae and mosses.
The 80-page report is intended to become a database and global reference point as it will be published annually and allow for comparisons on preserving the world's plants.
"This has been a huge undertaking... We engaged with more than 80 scientists to pull this together," said Steve Bachman, one of the report's authors.
In total, 391,000 types of plants are known to science, from tiny orchids to giant sequoia trees.
Thousands of new plants catalogued every year
The report predicts that 21 percent of all the species are threatened with extinction. Such predictions are nothing new and represent a growing scientific consensus on the fragility of the planet's ecology.
The report also said about 2,000 new plants are being discovered annually, such as a 1.5 meter (5 feet) tall carnivorous plant on a mountaintop in Brazil in 2015.
Some 17,810 plant species can be used medicinally, 5,538 are food and 3,649 are animal feed; little-known plants might have unknown benefits, such as resilience to diseases, though would be of no use if they disappear before they can be cataloged.
"If we completely clear the land and have a type of monoculture what happens when a new plant disease emerges and wipes out the crop entirely?" asked Steve Bachman, a species conservation researcher.
Past studies have estimated that 10 percent of the world's plant species are threatened with extinction. Others set the rate as high as 62 percent.
Too nice to be invaders
Invasive species are often conceived of as the seven plagues: damaging insects, ugly amphibians and poisonous fish come to mind. But good-looking invaders are all around. What's worse: they're also continuing to spread.
Image: picture alliance/Photoshot
50 shades of eastern grey
The eastern grey squirrel is native to some parts of North America, and was brought to Europe as a pet. They spread rapidly, displacing the native red squirrel, which is smaller and shyer. The eastern grey squirrel survives better in cold winters, and is destructive to European native trees, as it strips away the trees' bark to eat the sap below.
Image: picture alliance / Hinrich Bäsemann
Not-so-innocent tea
Fennel is designed to invade - and not only your cups. It is a particularly aggressive herb, competing with native plants for light, nutrients and water. Fennel can expel substances that inhibit the growth of other plants, allowing it to grow dense and tall: up to 7 meters high.
Image: picture alliance/chromorange/B. Tuerk
Easter bunnies everywhere
Common rabbits were introduced to almost every continent long ago, and their breeding faculty allowed the species to spread like wildfire. Rabbits can harm plants, soil composition, and entire ecosystems. Australia and other islands, due to their lack of natural predators, have the most problems with these cute invaders.
Native to the southeastern United States, red-eared sliders were traded as pets. They have also spread rapidly into many parts of the world, and are among the invasive species with the most negative impact on biodiversity and the economy. Their rapid breeding and larger body size contribute to transmitting diseases to other turtles, with which they compete for food.
Image: picture alliance/Arco Images GmbH/Wermter
Red plague
Native to Europe, the red fox has successfully spread over America, Africa and Australia. As a predator, it acts as a keystone species in its natural habitat, controlling rodent populations. But in areas where it has been introduced - such as Australia, where it has no natural predators - it has become a destructive pest.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Schröder
Too sweet to be true
Delicious raspberries are not easy neighbors. They tend to spread underground and colonize fertile soils, overtaking the growing space of native plants. Raspberry brambles can become very dense, limiting animals' access to water, while attracting invasive birds and rats.
Around 9,500 years ago, cats conquered humans and became the most popular pet in the world. This also helped them make their way into habitats where they don't belong. These felines are effective predators and hunt out of instinct even when not hungry, killing billions of birds per year. Cats are considered responsible for the extinction of more than 33 native species.
Image: picture-alliance/blickwinkel/F. Herrmann
Invaders in the mirror
Humans can be seen as large, greedy mammals that seek wide range and consume vast amounts of resources. Known also as Homo sapiens, this species tends to overhunt with advanced techniques on land and water, causing the extinction of many other species. Their breeding rates and overuse of resources may even pose a danger for their own future.
