Where have all the flowers gone? A systematic evaluation of factors driving native terrestrial plant decline in North America.

ABSTRACT: Prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America, forest and grasslands individually covered a 3rd of the conterminous United States; however, following the colonial and pioneer periods, respectively, these land cover categories were reduced to 70% and 50% of their original prominence. The dominant driving force for native land conversion was agriculture, which expanded exponentially from the Atlantic to the Pacific, comprising over half the total land area of America at its peak in 1950. However, farmland area has subsequently declined by 25%, so what has been driving native plant declines north of the 30th latitudinal parallel over the past 75 years? Analysis of recovery plans issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicates that of the over 900 plant species "listed" as threaten

SUBMITTER: Prosser RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11297832 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature