Saving imperiled plants
Plants are pulling a vanishing act, and gardeners may have to play a larger role on the world stage if vulnerable species are to be preserved and restored.
Continue reading the rest of "Saving imperiled plants" by Athens Banner-Herald
Imperiled animals and birds generally get top billing, says James Wandersee, a botanist and educator at Louisiana State University, who calls the appreciation gap between flora and fauna "plant blindness."
But many plants also are threatened by extinction, he says.
Overlooking the value of plants is costing us a bundle - some $384 million a year for the genetic contributions that disappearing strains of wild native sunflowers make to cultivated varieties alone, federal officials say. And that doesn't include plants' inestimable aesthetic appeal or medical uses. At least 25 percent of all prescription drugs contain ingredients derived from plant compounds, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Habitat loss due to urbanization, the introduction of invasive species and climate change are causing most of the plant declines, said Kathryn Kennedy, president and executive director of the Center for Plant Conservation in St. Louis.
"Breaking up habitat so that it's fragmented causes pollination problems, less genetic diversity and forces changes in temperature regimes," Kennedy said. "Non-native plants become so numerous that they repress native plants and alter the landscape.
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