107°F
weather icon Clear

Study shows cacti at risk of extinction

Almost a third of cactuses are at risk of extinction because of threats including illegal trade and a spread of farms in arid areas, making the spiny plants among the most vulnerable species, scientists said on Monday.

"We were surprised to find that such a high proportion of cactus species are threatened ... and by the diversity of threats," lead author Barbara Goettsch told Reuters of the findings by an international team of researchers.

The study said 31 percent of 1,478 types of cactus assessed were at risk of extinction - a higher rate than the 25 percent of mammals or 12 percent of birds that are rated as vulnerable to dying out because of human pressures.

Cactuses range from a centimeter (0.4 inch) across to 19 meters (62 feet) high, and many are prized by collectors for brightly colored flowers that bloom unpredictably. An international treaty bans trade in many rare cactuses.

Inger Andersen, director general of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), which oversees a Red List of threatened species, called the findings disturbing.

"They confirm that the scale of the illegal wildlife trade, including trade in plants, is much greater than we had previously thought," she said. Goettsch also works for the IUCN, based in Cambridge, England.

The study said that cattle ranching in arid lands, a spread of other farms and of roads and urban areas were also threatening cactus habitats in the Americas, from Chile and Uruguay to Mexico and the United States.

All species of cactus grow in the Americas except the mistletoe cactus found in Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka, the scientists wrote in the journal Nature Plants.

As a group of plants or animals, cactuses were the fifth most threatened behind cycads, amphibians, corals and conifers, the study said. Cycads are a type of fern-like plants.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic denied new trial request, seeks Trump pardon

“Tiger King” star Joe Exotic, who has been incarcerated for his role in a foiled murder-for-hire plot, suffered his latest legal setback on Wednesday, when an appeals court denied his request for a new trial.

Senate blocks bill to restore gambling tax break reduced in Trump bill

Senate Republicans on Thursday objected to quick passage of legislation that would restore full deductibility of wagering losses after Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto made the unanimous consent request.

MORE STORIES