About 40% of existing plant species on land is at risk from climate change. This is indicated by the study conducted by the University group
American of Arizona coordinated by Brian Enquist, published in the special issue of the journal Science Advances for the United Nations Conference on the climate 2019, the Cop25.
These are plants accustomed to stable climates and therefore more vulnerable to the effects of global warming. "When we talk about global biodiversity we do not actually have an exact perception of the number of species of plants on land, but only a good approximation," notes Enquist. The study is based on 10 years of cataloging plant species living on land: a group of 35 researchers conducted about 20 million observations from which it deduced that there are about 435,000 plant species on the mainland. "The value close to 40% - said Enquist - is much higher than we expected".
Map of places where rare plant species living on land are concentrated (source: Patrick R. Roehrdanz, Moore Center for Science, Conservation International Data from Enqist et al.)
In this way, the researcher noted, "we have tried to understand the nature of this plant biodiversity and, above all, how it will change in the future. Some of these plants are in fact widespread in different territories, others instead - he specified - are extraordinarily rare "as they have been observed overall less than five times. "Many of these plants - he concluded - are now threatened by human activities, such as agriculture, development
of cities and land consumption ".