Biodiversity

Plants under pressure

By Lisa Hendry

The world has an estimated 391,000 plant species. Scientists working on the Plants Under Pressure project have discovered that one fifth are at risk of extinction.

Find out what their research revealed about threatened plants and extinction hotspots.

Museum plant expert Dr Neil Brummitt explains how the research relied on the extensive historical plant collections at the Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The results will help experts monitor the status of plants over time so that they can try to reduce the loss of the planet's biodiversity.

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