Animals and plants at stage of extinction in U. S.
2023.02.06 08:13
Animals and plants at stage of extinction in U. S.
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – A leading conservation research group discovered that 41% of ecosystems are at risk of collapse and 40% of animals and 34% of plants in the United States are at risk of extinction.
A report that was made public on Monday found that everything from crayfish and cacti to freshwater mussels and famous American species like the Venus flytrap are in danger of disappearing.
The report, which synthesized five decades’ worth of its own information on the health of ecosystems, animals, and plants, was said to be NatureServe’s most comprehensive to date. NatureServe analyzes data from its network of over 1,000 scientists in the United States and Canada.
Importantly, the report identifies the areas of the United States where animals and plants are most vulnerable and land is not protected.
NatureServe president Sean O’Brien described the report’s findings as “terrifying” and expressed the hope that they would help lawmakers comprehend the urgency of passing protections like the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, which stalled in Congress last year.
O’Brien stated:
“We need to target the places where the biodiversity is most threatened if we want to maintain the panoply of biodiversity that we currently enjoy.” That is made possible by this report.”
NatureServe’s work would be crucial in assisting agencies in determining which areas to prioritize and where to establish migration routes, according to Democrat U.S. Representative Don Beyer, who has proposed legislation to establish a wildlife corridor system to rebuild threatened populations of fish, wildlife, and plants.
According to Beyer, who spoke with Reuters, “The data reported by NatureServe is grim, a harrowing sign of the very real problems our wildlife and ecosystems are facing.” I am grateful for their efforts, which will help preserve biodiversity.”
Icons like the carnivorous Venus flytrap, which is only found in the wild in a few North and South Carolina counties, are among the species that are at risk of disappearing.
200 species of trees, including a maple-leaf oak found in Arkansas, are also at risk of extinction, including nearly half of all cacti species. America’s vast temperate and boreal grasslands are among the most threatened ecosystems, with over half of the 78 grassland types in danger of disappearing completely.
The report discovered a variety of threats to plants, animals, and ecosystems, including “habitat degradation and land conversion,” invasive species, damming and polluting rivers, and climate change.”
According to the report, the most endangered species of plants, animals, and ecosystems are found in California, Texas, and the southeastern United States.
According to Wesley Knapp, the chief botanist at NatureServe, those regions are not only the richest in terms of biodiversity in the nation but also the areas where human encroachment on nature has been the most severe and population growth has surged in recent decades.
Knapp emphasized the threats to plants, which typically receive less funding for conservation than animals do. Nearly 1,250 plants fall into NatureServe’s “critically imperiled” category, which marks the final stage before extinction. This means that conservationists must choose where to spend limited funds to save even the most vulnerable species.
This indicates that conservation efforts will not be focused on many plants. Knapp stated, “We’re almost in triage mode trying to maintain our natural systems.”
According to Vivian Negron-Ortiz, president of the Botanical Society of America and a botanist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who was not a part of the NatureServe report, there is still a lot that scientists do not know about biodiversity in the United States, and the data provided by NatureServe helped shed light on that gloom.
She sees the new data as a call to action more than anything else.
She stated:
“This report demonstrates the public’s need to assist in preventing the disappearance of many of our plant species.” Finding and engaging with local organizations that are actively working to preserve rare species and wild places is one way that the general public can assist.”
The senior wildlife biologist at the National Wildlife Fund, John Kanter, stated that the data in the report, which he was not a part of, was essential for directing state and regional officials in the creation of powerful State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs), which they are required to complete every ten years in order to receive federal funding to protect vulnerable species.
All states currently receive $50 million in federal funding to carry out their SWAPs. According to Kanter, the state’s ability to protect animals and ecosystems would be greatly affected by the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, which congressional sponsors say will be reintroduced soon. The NatureServe report can serve as a guide for officials on how to allocate their funds most effectively.
“There’s no way to prioritize action if we don’t have this kind of accounting of what’s out there, how’s it doing, and what are the threats,” Kanter stated. “Our biodiversity and its conservation is like a ‘nature savings account.'” That’s why this new report is so important.”
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