At the current deforestation pace, 57 percent of species could be threatened, a new study suggests. The following is a sciencenews.org news flash by Chris Samoray, posted November 20, 2015 with the title above:
Between 36 and 57 percent of all tree species in the Amazon probably meet International Union for Conservation of Nature standards for being a threatened species, new findings show. Under current deforestation trends where 40 percent of the original Amazon forest is lost by 2050, as much as 57 percent of tree species there could be threatened.
But with better governing and conservation, expected forest loss by 2050 drops to 21 percent. Even so, in this scenario, at least 36 percent of Amazon tree species can be considered threatened, an international team of researchers reports November 20 in Science Advances.
