More Than A Third Of All Plants And Animals In The U.S. Could Go Extinct

More than a third of animal and plant species in the United States could become extinct, and more than 40% of their ecosystems could be threatened with extinction, according to a new report from a conservation group.

The report was released on Monday by the nonprofit NatureServe, which collects biodiversity data from a network of more than 1,000 scientists across the country and makes it available to other organizations. The report, published by Reuters, summarizes more than 50 years of data collection and is the most comprehensive analysis of the data by the group to date.

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The report breaks down animal and plant species into a rating system that indicates their risk of extinction using factors such as the geographic range of the species, severe threats to its existence, population decline, and population size. This ranking system is based on publicly available methods and, importantly, includes updated information on the status of species not included in federal documents such as the Endangered Species Act.

“While the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) is also focused on endangered species, human and financial constraints prevented a federal assessment of all species classified as endangered using the NatureSave methodology,” the report says. “Our status assessments complement the federal list, providing a basis for assessing the health status of additional species and ecosystems at the state, national and global levels. In addition, they provide information on the status of species that are not listed or are in the process of being assessed for inclusion in the ESA.

Of the more than 16,600 US plant species mentioned in the report, about 34% are endangered, including about half of cacti, 31% of ferns, 27% of orchids, about 20% of tree species, and about one in five herbaceous plant species. variety. Of the nearly 11,000 animal species listed in the report, 40% are currently endangered. According to the report, among species close to the aquatic life limit, 75% of all freshwater snails, 65% of all oysters and 55% of all crayfish species are endangered.

Meanwhile, ecosystems also face a bleak long-term outlook: 41% of the roughly 400 US ecosystems covered in the report are at risk of extinction, with certain forest and grassland types most at risk. The report found that most of these ecosystems are outside the federal government's designated biodiversity conservation areas.

Sean O'Brien, CEO of NatureSave, told Reuters that the report's findings are "alarming" and that he hopes lawmakers recognize the urgent need to strengthen species and ecosystem protection.

“If we want to preserve the biodiversity that we currently enjoy, we need to target the places where biodiversity is most threatened,” O'Brien said. "This report allows us to do just that."