"The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi” report assesses our current knowledge of plants and fungal diversity, the threats they face and how to protect them.

The report warns that many plant and fungal species, 45% of documented flowering plants and half of all analyzed fungi risk extinction (though less than 0.4% of identified fungi have been assessed for extinction to date).

The report identified 32 plant diversity darkspots, places where plants are highly endemic but severely under-documented, including Colombia, New Guinea and China South-Central.

Report authors argue that priority conservation areas should consider distinctiveness in plants or “phylogenetic diversity” and found that these hotspots of phylogenetic diversity differ from the traditional biodiversity hotspots approach."

Liz Kimbrough reports for Mongabay October 10, 2023. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"‘Uncharted Territory’: More Than 2M Fungi Species Yet To Be Discovered, Scientists Say" (Guardian) [3]

"Pressure On Nature Threatens Many Flowering Plants With Extinction" (BBC News) [4]