botanic garden are crucial for the long - term survival of many of the human beings ’s plant . A new study , print inNature plant , has found that these institution and appeal home at least a third of all known coinage of plants , including two - one-fifth of all those classed as “ threatened ” .
The researchers cross - referenced the working list of all 350,699 known species of plants – although some estimate do put this figurecloser to 400,000 – with the records of just one - third of botanic gardens whose metal money records they could access . They found that the collections were enormously significant , and included at leasta third of all identify flora species .
surprisingly , the subject finds that these collections cover an impressive chain of known specie . The 1,116 mental hospital assessed housed close to 66 percent of all know genus , which is the compartmentalization one up from species . And become another rung up the ravel , they also moderate an telling 90 percent of all industrial plant families .
It is thought that of all the flora on this planet , up to 20 percent are in danger of defunctness , with many threatened by deforestation , land exercise alteration , and clime change . These managed garden fan out around the world , however , are vital to the ongoing survival of many of these species , and house at least41 percent of all known threatened plant .
But these fig , while outstanding , dissemble some important gaps in the collections . metal money from one of the most ancient plant lineages are immensely underrepresented . As some of the first plants to make the saltation from the oceans to the nation , non - vascular plants – such as moss and liverworts – capture a primal instant not only in the evolution of plant , but in the history of our planet , and yet only 5 percent of all specie are put up in botanic gardens .
There are also significant unbalance in the variety of plants held in these collections . With most of the botanic gardens being locate in the northerly hemisphere , it is perhaps not surprising to obtain that species of plant from temperate environments have much better reportage . They found that around 60 per centum of jazz temperate species are represent in these gardens compared to just 25 percent of tropical specie , despite the tropical environment contain the huge majority of flora variety .
“ Currently , an estimated one - fifth of plant diversity is under threat , yet there is no technological cause why any plant species should become out . botanical garden protect an astonishing amount of plant diversity in cultivation , but we need to respond now to the extinction crisis,”explainedsenior author Dr Samuel Brockington .
“ If we do not maintain our plant diverseness , man will struggle to solve the world-wide challenge of food and fuel surety , environmental degradation , and mood change . ”
