Plant species face global extinction, new ones found with Facebook

The Kew Royal Botanical Gardens released a report detailing that 21 percent of all global species are facing extinction. More than one-fifth of the 390,000 vascular plant species around the globe were included in the survey. Kew Gardens is the world’s largest collection of living plants located in the United Kingdom.

Comprised of 80 scientists, the study took more than a year to conduct, urging other researchers to unite to save tens of thousands of plant species from extinction. Biologists need to know the varieties of plants existing in a certain population before they can be cultivated on regional and national scales.

Tech Times reports thousands of new plant specimens are discovered around the world year by year. Botanists found 2,034 unknown plants in 2015. New strains are discovered in an array of environments such as in the wild, greenhouses, and now, even on social media. Facebook posted that its efforts identified one of the largest meat-eating plants in the world rising 5 feet in length. The constant flux of new plant life challenges the scientific community in keeping record.

Steve Bachman of RBG Kew identified,”But there are still large parts of the world where very little is known about plants. Identification of these important plant areas is now critical. Similarly, we still only know a fraction of the genetic diversity of plants and whole-genome sequences are currently available for just 139 species of vascular plants. Activity in this area needs to speed up.”

Plants are essential to sustaining all other forms of life. Not only do they serve as a food source for many types of life but provide primary connections in the pollination cycle. Moreover, many types of plants are used as a steady supply of medicine. A major disruption could affect all life in the ecosystem.

To save the species, organized efforts between local governments and scientific organizations need to be created to keep the plants growing. But the major challenge is to find ways to protect the plants for future generations while serving human interests.

Ethiopia’s early planning initiatives where climate change threatens the nation’s staple coffee crops serves as an example of preserving the biodiversity of plants. The full Kew Report can be read on its website.