Today the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has released its first global assessment of the diversity of, status of, and threats to this planet’s plants.

May 10, 2016

 

Professor Kathy Willis, director of science at RBG Kew, told the BBC:

"It's really important to know how many plant species there are, where they are and the relationship between the groups, because plants are absolutely fundamental to our well-being.

"They provide us with our food, our fuel, our medicines - even controlling our climate."

 

• Scientists have estimated that there are 390,900 plants known to science (excluding algae, mosses, liverworts and hornworts)
• 2,034 new plant species were discovered in 2015.
• 21% of plants are at risk of extinction [globally], with threats including climate change, habitat loss, disease and invasive species.
• Investigators have logged 4,979 invasive plant species around the world.
• The global cost of invasive plants is estimated at nearly 5% of the world's economy.
• at least 31,000 plant species have a documented use as medicines, food, materials, and other product.

Kew's global assessment will now be carried out annually, allowing scientists to monitor how plants are changing over time.