Global Assessment Reveals Major Extinction Risk for Angiosperms

In a new study published in the journal Science, an international team of researchers led by Kew and ZSL scientists, present the first global assessment of risk to the angiosperm tree of life, highlighting that more than a fifth of all angiosperm evolutionary history is at risk of extinction. SEEC member Jonathan Colville formed part of the study.

To determine how much evolutionary history is at risk of extinction, the authors used the EDGE metric (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered). The metric combines the extinction risk faced by a species with its genetic distinctiveness. EDGE scores for 335,497 plant species were assigned using molecular data and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - making it the largest species prioritisation assessment in the history of conservation.

The paper can be downloaded here, and a commentary on the paper is available here.