Abstract:
This is the first document to collate current knowledge on
the state of the world’s plants. A large team of researchers
has reviewed published literature, scrutinised global
databases and synthesised new datasets. The output
presented here represents a status report on our knowledge
of global vegetation as it stands in 2016, including a
synthesis of existing information about vascular plants
(Figure 1), new findings emerging from the review process,
and an update on current knowledge gaps.
The report is in three sections. The first part describes
what we currently know about plants: how many plant
species there are, new plant discoveries in 2015, our current
knowledge on plant evolutionary relationships and plant
genomes, the number of useful plants, and the location of
the world’s most important plant areas. We also present a
country-wide focus, this year on Brazil. The second part of the
report assesses our knowledge of global threats to plants.
In particular, we review the potential impacts of climate
change, land-use change, invasive plants, plant diseases,
and extinction risk. The third part details international trade, as well as policies and international agreements that are
in place to deal with some of the threats.
There will inevitably be gaps in this report. We cannot
claim to have covered all of the evidence currently available;
this year is the beginning of an annual process, and in
future years we will add to this knowledge base. However,
by bringing the available information together into one
document, we hope to raise the profile of plants among the
global community and to highlight not only what we do know
about threats, status and uses, but also what we don’t. This
will help us to decide where more research effort and policy
focus is required to preserve and enhance the essential role
of plants in underpinning all aspects of human wellbeing.
