Brazil managed to reduce the number of species threatened with extinction in both flora and fauna, from 47.4 percent of endangered plant species in 2014 to 42.7 percent in 2022, while endangered animals fell from 9.8 percent to 9 percent in the same period, according to a comprehensive study released by the government.
The state-run Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) released the study based on the fauna list drawn up by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and the flora list drawn up by the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden (JBRJ), which analyzed 21,456 species of animals and plants from all of the country’s biomes, or about 12 percent of all Brazilian biodiversity.
Most of the endangered species of both fauna and flora are from terrestrial environments, rising from 65 percent in 2014 to 70 percent in 2022.
Meanwhile, freshwater species increased from 39 percent to 37 percent and marine species from 16 percent to 15 percent. End
By biomes, the Atlantic Forest (mata atlantica) has the highest number of threatened animal and plant species in the country, with 11,811 of the 21,456 (equivalent to 43 percent) analyzed in the country’s six biomes.
Of the six Brazilian biomes, the Atlantic Forest had the highest number of species analyzed: 11,811. It is also the area with the most threatened species, totaling 2,845, or almost a quarter (24.1 percent).
The Atlantic Forest is also the biome with the most species declared extinct, numbering eight, the most recent being the stilt (Boana cymbalum).
“This situation is related to intrinsic characteristics of the biome itself, with many endemic species and species of restricted distribution, but there is also a factor that is the history of occupation of the Atlantic Forest, the biome with the longest history of occupation and the greatest loss of native area,” IBGE assured.
“There is also a third factor: most of the institutions and research centers are located in this biome, so there is greater availability of information on its biodiversity, which makes it possible to assess the risk of extinction of species better,” he added.
The Cerrado follows the Atlantic Forest.
With 7,385 species assessed, the Cerrado had 1,199 considered at risk (16.2 percent of the total). Other biomes with more than 10 percent of threatened fauna among the species assessed are the Caatinga (3,220 or 14.9 percent) and the Pampas (229 or 13.7 percent).
The biomes with the lowest threatened species are the Amazon (503 or 6 percent) and the Pantanal (1,825 or 4.1 percent).
IBGE also reported that the total number of species studied in 2022 increased compared to the list drawn up in 2014. Plants went from 9 percent of the total (4,304) to 15 percent (7,517), while animals rose from 10 percent (12,009) to 11 percent (13,939).
“This is a good advance to have a complete view of how the situation of the species in Brazil is and, consequently, how the state of the ecosystems where they are found is,” the institute highlighted.
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