Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Illegal trade contributes to placing cacti among world's most threatened species

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/uoe-itc100215.php

Public Release: 5-Oct-2015
Illegal trade contributes to placing cacti among world's most threatened species
Thirty-one percent of cactus species are threatened with extinction
University of Exeter

Thirty-one percent of cactus species are threatened with extinction, according to the first comprehensive, global assessment of the species group by IUCN and partners, published today in the journal Nature Plants. This places cacti among the most threatened taxonomic groups assessed on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ - more threatened than mammals and birds.

According to the report, cacti are under increasing pressure from human activity, with more than half of the world's 1,480 cactus species used by people. The illegal trade of live plants and seeds for the horticultural industry and private collections, as well as their unsustainable harvesting are the main threats to cacti, affecting 47% of threatened species.

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