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\"This work is a new, hopeful analysis from the world's top natural scientists that shows us the way to save the endangered species of the world\"-- Provided by publisher.

A new report out this week warns that at least 1 in 9 tree species in the U.S. are at risk of extinction. Trees face a host of threats including invasive species, deadly disease and climate change. The data comes as part of the most comprehensive threat assessment ever collected on U.S. forests.

Background In the past several millenniums, we have domesticated several crop species that are crucial for human civilization, which is a symbol of significant human influence on plant evolution. A pressing question to address is if plant diversity will increase or decrease in this warming world since contradictory pieces of evidence exit of accelerating plant speciation and plant extinction in the Anthropocene. Results Comparison may be made of the Anthropocene with the past geological times characterised by a warming climate, e.g., the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) 55.8 million years ago (Mya)—a period of “crocodiles in the Arctic”, during which plants saw accelerated speciation through autopolyploid speciation. Three accelerators of plant speciation were reasonably identified in the Anthropocene, including cities, polar regions and botanical gardens where new plant species might be accelerating formed through autopolyploid speciation and hybridization. Conclusions However, this kind of positive effect of climate warming on new plant species formation would be thoroughly offset by direct and indirect intensive human exploitation and human disturbances that cause habitat loss, deforestation, land use change, climate change, and pollution, thus leading to higher extinction risk than speciation in the Anthropocene. At last, four research directions are proposed to deepen our understanding of how plant traits affect speciation and extinction, why we need to make good use of polar regions to study the mechanisms of dispersion and invasion, how to maximize the conservation of plant genetics, species, and diverse landscapes and ecosystems and a holistic perspective on plant speciation and extinction is needed to integrate spatiotemporally.

Each plant species has its own unique passage that is affected by its gene pool, dispersal ability, interactions with competitors and pests, and the habitats and climactic conditions to which it is exposed. This book will explore plant species as dynamic entities within this passage, following the four stages of plant species life that normally occur. Those four stages can be identified as birth, expansion, differentiation and loss of cohesion, and decline/extinction. Each chapter focuses on part of the speciation process and examines it closely in the light of exploring the species passage from birth to death.

Background The decline of medicinal plants poses a significant threat to traditional healthcare systems in Uganda. This decline is driven by excessive global consumption estimated at 85%, and upsurge of herbal medicine trade amidst conservation challenges. This study documented indigenous knowledge on the commonly used medicinal plants in Namutumba district, Eastern Uganda. The study also documented demographic characteristics of informants, and assessed local conservation practices in order to inform more effective conservation strategies. Methods An ethnobotanical survey involving 300 respondents was conducted using pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaires in 17 sub-counties of Namutumba District. Data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics using STATA version-15.0, and Graphs plotted using GraphPad Prism ® version 9.0.0. Results One hundred and seventy-four medicinal plant species belonging to 63 families and 160 genera were documented. Plants were mostly obtained from bushlands (Frequency of citation = 276, 92.0%), markets (247, 82.3%), and wetlands (224, 74.7%). Plants belonged mainly to families Fabaceae (24, 13.7%), Asteraceae (15, 8.6%), and Euphorbiaceae (10, 5.7%). Leaves were the commonly used plant parts (532, 45.7%). The plants were cited for treating infectious diseases like malaria, and non-infectious chronic ailments such as diabetes (42, 24.0%) and cancer (17, 9.7%). Kigelia africana was the most cited species with Relative Frequency of Citation of 0.22. Almost all respondents (289, 96.3%) acknowledged a considerable decline in the availability of 13 medicinal plants including Aloe wollastoni and Commiphora Africana , significantly attributed more to climate change (296, 95.5%), than other factors like overharvesting, agriculture, and habitat destruction (χ 2 , p  < 0.05). Conservation strategies were scarce. Four of the medicinal plants documented in this survey were found to be Red listed among the plants whose population has greatly declined and is vulnerable to extinction in Uganda and globally. Conclusion Despite the rich diversity of medicinal plants in Namutumba, conservation strategies are scarce, and some plants are globally red listed among the species whose population has greatly declined and are vulnerable to extinction. Therefore, in Uganda, conservation strategies that are tailored to vulnerable, rural areas such as Namutumba district, are warranted to improve intervention outcomes in such settings.

A new endemic species of Lysimachia from Kaua‘i, Hawaiian Islands, is described and illustrated with notes on its distribution, ecology, conservation status and phylogenetic relationships. A modification to the existing key for Hawaiian Lysimachia is provided. Lysimachia barcae sp. nov. , differs from its Hawaiian congeners by its unique combination of mature stems villous to tomentose, petioles 1–3 mm long, leaves ovate, cordate to subcordate or rounded at base, with primary and secondary veins conspicuous, purple-red, raised on abaxial surface, often densely hirsute to pilose and pedicels 35–70 mm long. Only ten mature individuals are known from a single colony along steep, precipitous slopes of Wainiha Valley, Kaua‘i. Lysimachia barcae represents a new Critically Endangered (CR) single-island endemic species and is the focus of concerted conservation efforts to prevent its extinction.

Ecosystems worldwide are threatened with the extinction of plants and, at the same time, invasion by new species. Plant invasiveness and loss of species can be caused by similar but opposing pressures on the community structures. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can have multiple positive effects on plant growth, productivity, health, and stress relief. Many endangered species live in symbiosis with AMF. However, the list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) indicates that the mycorrhizal status of most of the threatened species has not been assessed. Rare plants often occur in specialized and also endangered habitats and might utilize specialized or unique AMF. The specificity of any endangered plant to its AMF population has not been investigated. Because most of the current AMF isolates that are available colonize a broad range of plant species, selected inocula could be used to promote growth of endangered plants before the proper and more effective indigenous AMF are characterized. Application of AMF in field sites to protect endangered plants is hardly feasible due to the complexity of plant community structures and the large amount of fungal inocula needed. Endangered plants could, however, be grown as greenhouse cultures together with appropriate fungi, and, at the relevant developmental stage, they could be re-planted into native sites to prevent extinction and to preserve plant community ecology.

CONTEXT: Integrated conservation decision-making frameworks that help to design or adjust practices that are cognisant of environmental change and adaptation are urgently needed. OBJECTIVE: We demonstrate how a landscape vulnerability framework combining sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and exposure to climate change framed along two main axes of concern can help to identify potential strategies for conservation and adaptation decision-making, using a landscape in Madagascar’s spiny forest as a case-study. METHODS: To apply such a vulnerability landscape assessment, we inferred the sensitivity of habitats using temporal and spatial botanical data-sets, including the use of fossil pollen data and vegetation surveys. For understanding adaptive capacity, we analysed existing spatial maps (reflecting anthropogenic stressors) showing the degree of habitat connectivity, matrix quality and protected area coverage for the different habitats in the landscape. Lastly, for understanding exposures, we used climate change predictions in Madagascar, together with a digital elevation model. RESULTS: The fossil pollen data showed how sensitive arid-adapted species were to past climate changes, especially the conditions between 1000 and 500 cal yr BP. The spatial analysis then helped locate habitats on the two-dimensional axes of concern integrating sensitivity, adaptive capacity and climate change exposure. By identifying resistant, resilient, susceptible, and sensitive habitats to climate change in the landscape under study, we identify very different approaches to integrate conservation and adaptation strategies in contrasting habitats. CONCLUSION: This framework, illustrated through a case study, provides easy guidance for identifying potential integrated conservation and adaptation strategies, taking into account aspects of climate vulnerability and conservation capacity.

A new species of Peperomia with alternate leaves from Kaua‘i, Hawaiian Islands, is described and illustrated, with notes on its conservation status, distribution and ecology. We present a dichotomous key to all five Hawaiian Peperomia species with alternate leaves and include notes on two possibly extinct Hawaiian Peperomia species, namely P. degeneri and P. subpetiolata . Peperomia kauaiana sp. nov. differs morphologically from its Hawaiian congeners by its unique combination of diminutive leaves 5–14(–18) mm long, 4–11(–14) mm wide, palmately 5- to 7-nerved, ovate to ovate-orbicular with margins revolute, petioles 2–5 mm long and spikes 11–17(–22) mm long. Plants have been documented in three distinct windward Kaua‘i locations to date, including the southern ridges of Wahiawa, the central ridges of Wai‘ahi and the north-eastern ridges of the Makaleha Mountains. Peperomia kauaiana represents a newly-described wet forest species endemic to the island of Kaua‘i and is currently in need of conservation. Its discovery raises the total number of endemic Hawaiian Peperomia species to 24 and single-island endemic Peperomia on Kaua‘i to three.

Although rats have clearly contributed to bird extinctions on islands, their role in plant extinctions is not as clear. Paleoenvironmental studies suggest rats were responsible for the demise of several island palm species. French Polynesia’s islands provide an opportunity to evaluate “modern” impacts of rats on native flora. Our study shows that 15 threatened taxa (nine families) are damaged by rats. All 12 subjected to seed predation are woody plants with large-seeded drupes. Three experience severe predation and recruitment depression ( Santalum insulare , Ochrosia tahitensis , Nesoluma nadeaudii ). Three-year monitoring of Polynesian sandalwood ( Santalum insulare ) populations in Tahiti during rat control suggested that over 99% of fruits were eaten before ripening. Seed predation on sandalwood appeared to be lower on islands without black rats Rattus rattus . Studies from Indo-Pacific islands document rat impact on at least 56 taxa (28 families). Certain families (Arecaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Rubiaceae, Santalaceae, and Sapotaceae) are particularly vulnerable to seed predation. Other soft-barked trees (Araliaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Malvaceae) suffer from stem or bark damages, especially during dry seasons. Although rats depress seedling recruitment and alter vegetation dynamics, no evidence demonstrates that they are solely responsible for current plant extinctions. Most of French Polynesia’s endangered species impacted by rats occur in severely degraded habitats. We therefore suggest that rats can be viewed more as coup de grâce species (i.e., that give the final stroke of death), rather than as main drivers of plant extinctions. More research is needed to clarify the impacts of rat species and their importance in plant population decline or demise.