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The United States is experiencing an extinction crisis – a conservation group found more than 33 percent of the nation’s biodiversity is at risk of disappearing from the Earth.
The shocking data was collected by NatureSever, which found that California, Texas and the southeastern states have the highest percentages of threatened plants, animals and ecosystems.
Monday’s report reveals 40 percent of animals and 34 percent of plants are on a path to extinction.
And 41 percent of the ecosystems are at risk of collapse due to extensive threats such as land-cover conversion, with grasslands in the mid-west being most at risk.
The threats against plants, animals and ecosystems include ‘habitat degradation and land conversion, invasive species, damming and polluting of rivers, and climate change.’
A new report reveals that 33 percent of biodiversity in the US – including animals, plants and ecosystems – is at risk of extinction. Experts say this is due to threatened wildlife living on unprotected land (red)
California, Texas and the southeastern regions are the richest in terms of biodiversity in the country, but also where population growth has boomed in recent decades and where human encroachment on nature has been harshest, said Wesley Knapp, the chief botanist at NatureServe.
Knapp highlighted the threats facing plants, which typically get less conservation funding than animals.
Representative Don Beyer, a Democrat who has proposed legislation to create a wildlife corridor system to rebuild threatened populations, said NatureServe’s work would be critical to helping agencies identify what areas to prioritize and where to establish migration routes.
‘The data reported by NatureServe is grim, a harrowing sign of the very real problems our wildlife and ecosystems are facing,’ Beyer told Reuters.
‘I am thankful for their efforts, which will give a boost to efforts to protect biodiversity.’
NatureServe, which analyzes data from its network of over 1,000 scientists across the United States and Canada, said the report was its most comprehensive yet, synthesizing five decades’ worth of its own information on the health of animals, plants and ecosystems.
The data shows that everything from crayfish to freshwater mussels and iconic American species such as the Venus flytrap are in danger of disappearing – a total of 10,941 species.
One of the largest animal groups is terrestrial snails, with 74 percent on the brink of extinction.
Monday’s report reveals 40 percent of animals, which includes the red wolf (pictured), are heading for extinction. There are a total of 10,941 species at risk
Approximately 37 percent of bee species are at risk, which poses a major threat to agriculture
Approximately 441 mammal species, 889 fish and 773 birds are threatened.
Approximately 37 percent of bee species are at risk, which poses a major threat to agriculture -honeybees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops in the United States each year.
These animals rely on plan communities to survive, but 34 percent across the US could soon disappear, which totals to 16,671 species.
Nearly half of all cacti species are at risk of extinction, while 200 species of trees, including a maple-leaf oak found in Arkansas, are also at risk of disappearing.
And of the hundreds of grass species that form the nation’s great prairies and marshes, about 19 percent are at risk of vanishing forever.
However, plants and animals all require stable ecosystems – but the report shows 41 percent are at risk of a collapse – a total of 383.
‘Tropical ecosystems in the U.S. are all under substantial risk, but account for relatively small proportions in number and area,’ reads the report.
‘Temperate grasslands, boreal grasslands, and shrublands stand out among highly threatened ecosystems that extend over vast areas of the country, with 51 percent of the 78 grassland types known to be at risk of range-wide collapse.
‘Temperate forests, boreal forests, and woodlands have also experienced multiple pressures, leading to an at-risk status for 40 percent of the 107 types of native US forests.’
These animals rely on plan communities to survive, but 34 percent across the US could soon disappear, which totals to 16,671 species
Sean O’Brien, president of NatureServe, said the conclusions of the report were ‘terrifying’ and he hoped it would help lawmakers understand the urgency of passing protections, such as the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act that stalled out in Congress last year.
‘If we want to maintain the panoply of biodiversity that we currently enjoy, we need to target the places where the biodiversity is most threatened,’ O’Brien said. ‘This report allows us to do that.’
John Kanter, the senior wildlife biologist with the National Wildlife Federation, said the data in the report, which he was not involved with, was essential to guiding state and regional officials in creating impactful State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs).
This is done every 10 years to receive federal funding to protect vulnerable species.
Nearly half of all cacti species are at risk of extinction. Pictured is a desert valley fishhook cactus that is on the path to extinction
Plants and animals all require stable ecosystems – but the report shows 41 percent are at risk of a collapse – a total of 383. Grasslands in the Midwest are most at risk
Currently, $50 million in federal funding is divided up among all states to carry out their SWAPs.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, whose congressional sponsors say will be reintroduced soon, would have increased that to $1.4 billion, which would have a huge impact on the state’s abilities to protect animals and ecosystems, Kanter said.
The NatureServe report can be a roadmap for officials to spend their best money.
‘Our biodiversity and its conservation is like a ‘nature savings account,’ and if we don’t have this kind of accounting of what’s out there and how’s it doing, and what are the threats, there’s no way to prioritize action,’ Kanter said. ‘This new report is critical for that.’