Plant Extinctions Might Impact Humans

A U.S.-led team of scientists has determined plant species extinctions cause natural habitats to become less productive and contain fewer total plants.

The researchers said that situation could ultimately compromise important benefits that humans get from nature.

The process by which plants grow and produce more plant biomass is one of the most fundamental biological processes on the planet, said Assistant Professor Bradley Cardinale of the University of California-Santa Barbara, lead author of the study.

Cardinale said plant productivity regulates the ability of nature to take greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, as well as the ability to produce oxygen, food, fiber, and biofuels.

Therefore, species extinctions could compromise the benefits that nature provides to society, said Cardinale.

The study showed ecosystems with fewer species produce up to 50 percent less plant biomass than those with more natural levels of diversity.

Our analyses provide the most comprehensive evidence yet that natural habitats with a greater variety of plant species are more productive, said co-author Michel Loreau of McGill University. In other words, different plant species play unique roles in the environment.

The research appears in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.