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Green plants in the red : a baseline global assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants

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Meagher_2015_PLOSone_Green_CC.pdf (2.374Mb)
Date
07/08/2015
Author
Brummitt, Neil
Bachman, Steven
Griffiths-Lee, Janine
Lutz, Maiko
Moat, Justin
Farjon, Aljos
Donaldson, John
Hilton-Taylor, Craig
Meagher, Thomas Robert
Albuquerque, Sara
Aletrari, Elina
Andrews, A. Kei
Atchison, Guy
Baloch, Elisabeth
Barlozzini, Barbara
Brunazzi, Alice
Carretero, Julia
Celesti, Marco
Chadburn, Helen
Ciafoni, Eduardo
Cockel, Chris
Coldwell, Vanessa
Concetti, Benedetta
Contu, Sara
Crook, Vicki
Dyson, Philippa
Gardiner, Lauren
Ghanim, Nadia
Greene, Hannah
Groom, Alice
Harker, Ruth
Hopkins, Della
Khela, Sonia
Lakeman-Fraser, Poppy
Lindon, Heather
Lockwood, Helen
Loftu, Christine
Lombrici, Debora
Lopez-Poveda, Lucia
Lyon, James
Malcolm-Tompkins, Patricia
McGregor, Kirsty
Moreno, Laura
Murray, Linda
Nazar, Keara
Nic Lughadha, Eimear
Keywords
QH301 Biology
Metadata
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Abstract
Plants provide fundamental support systems for life on Earth and are the basis for all terrestrial ecosystems; a decline in plant diversity will be detrimental to all other groups of organisms including humans. Decline in plant diversity has been hard to quantify, due to the huge numbers of known and yet to be discovered species and the lack of an adequate baseline assessment of extinction risk against which to track changes. The biodiversity of many remote parts of the world remains poorly known, and the rate of new assessments of extinction risk for individual plant species approximates the rate at which new plant species are described. Thus the question 'How threatened are plants?' is still very difficult to answer accurately. While completing assessments for each species of plant remains a distant prospect, by assessing a randomly selected sample of species the Sampled Red List Index for Plants gives, for the first time, an accurate view of how threatened plants are across the world. It represents the first key phase of ongoing efforts to monitor the status of the world's plants. More than 20% of plant species assessed are threatened with extinction, and the habitat with the most threatened species is overwhelmingly tropical rain forest, where the greatest threat to plants is anthropogenic habitat conversion, for arable and livestock agriculture, and harvesting of natural resources. Gymnosperms (e.g. conifers and cycads) are the most threatened group, while a third of plant species included in this study have yet to receive an assessment or are so poorly known that we cannot yet ascertain whether they are threatened or not. This study provides a baseline assessment from which trends in the status of plant biodiversity can be measured and periodically reassessed.
Citation
Brummitt , N , Bachman , S , Griffiths-Lee , J , Lutz , M , Moat , J , Farjon , A , Donaldson , J , Hilton-Taylor , C , Meagher , T R , Albuquerque , S , Aletrari , E , Andrews , A K , Atchison , G , Baloch , E , Barlozzini , B , Brunazzi , A , Carretero , J , Celesti , M , Chadburn , H , Ciafoni , E , Cockel , C , Coldwell , V , Concetti , B , Contu , S , Crook , V , Dyson , P , Gardiner , L , Ghanim , N , Greene , H , Groom , A , Harker , R , Hopkins , D , Khela , S , Lakeman-Fraser , P , Lindon , H , Lockwood , H , Loftu , C , Lombrici , D , Lopez-Poveda , L , Lyon , J , Malcolm-Tompkins , P , McGregor , K , Moreno , L , Murray , L , Nazar , K & Nic Lughadha , E 2015 , ' Green plants in the red : a baseline global assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants ' , PLoS One , vol. 10 , no. 8 , e0135152 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135152
Publication
PLoS One
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135152
ISSN
1932-6203
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2015 Brummitt et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135152#sec022
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/7358

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