Sean T. O’Brien, CEO and president of the conservation-focused NatureServe, leads off the organization’s “first report of its kind” with a horrifying sentence: “At this moment, species are going extinct faster than any time in human history.”
Using 50 years of data it has collected from its network of 1,000 scientists, NatureServe scrutinized only the United States. Researchers for Biodiversity in Focus: United States Edition concluded that 40% of U.S. animals and 34% of plants are at risk of extinction. On top of this, 41% of ecosystems are collapsing from “habitat degradation and land conversion, invasive species, damming and polluting of rivers, and climate change.”
Close to half of cacti species are at risk of extinction, along with 200 species of trees. Among ecosystems, America's temperate and boreal grasslands are the most endangered. Close to half of cacti species are at risk of extinction, along with 200 species of trees. The report is the most comprehensive to date on the status of U.S. ecosystems. It found that 51% of grasslands and 40% of forests and wetlands are at risk of range-wide collapse. Only 12% of U.S. lands are currently protected.
Among animals, freshwater species—amphibians, aquatic insects, snails, crayfish, and mussels—are at the highest risk, the report states. Some 37% of assessed bee species are also at risk, a continuing problem for plants, including food crops, that depend on bee pollinators.
This, of course, is a global problem, a product of habitat loss from spreading human populations and extractive, industrial, agricultural, and residential development, including the heavy use of pesticides.
Among animals, freshwater species—amphibians, aquatic insects, snails, crayfish, and mussels—are at the highest risk, the report states. Some 37% of assessed bee species are also at risk, a continuing problem for plants, including food crops, that depend on bee pollinators.
The risks of these losses are highest in the southeastern states, plus California and Texas, according to the report. All these areas have been booming economically.
O’Brien said, "The plants, animals, and ecosystems found in our state, tribal, and federal lands are key components of our cultural and natural heritage. We should be proud of the biodiversity in our backyard and should prioritize protecting what is here, now."
The authors point out that their report only covered “assessed” species, those that have received scientific attention in the past. This means the actual percentage of species at risk of disappearing is likely higher than those already dreadful NaureServe estimates.
Vivian Negron-Ortiz, the president of the Botanical Society of America and a botanist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who was not involved in the report, told Reuters that there are many details that scientists have not yet learned about biodiversity in the United States, and that NatureServe's data presents a call to action. "This report shows the need for the public to help prevent the disappearance of many of our plant species," she said. "The public can help by finding and engaging with local organizations that are actively working to protect wild places and conserve rare species."
In a statement Monday, senior scientist Tierra Curry at the Center for Biological Diversity said, “This grim assessment adds to the mountain of science showing that we’re creating an extinction crisis. It’s suicidal of us to pretend that business as usual is more important than safeguarding the natural world we all depend on.”
Brad Brooks at Reuters notes that the federal government now divides a piddling $50 million among all the states and tribes to carry out State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) to protect at-risk species. These must be completed every 10 years. The congressional sponsors of the Recovering America's Wildlife Act say the Act will be reintroduced soon, and want to boost that to $1.4 billion.
Another proposal needing reintroduction is The Extinction Prevention Act. This would add funding to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to recover the most endangered species. And President Joe Biden’s super-ambitious America the Beautiful Initiative would bring 30% of U.S. lands and waters under protection along with the species that inhabit them.
Said Joe Kanter, senior National Wildlife Federation biologist, the NatureServe report can help give states direction about where best to spend that 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. This new report is critical for that.”