New Delhi: Driven to extinction by the rise in sea levels and the increasing hurricanes in the United States, the Key Largo tree cactus, once abundant in the Florida Keys, a string of islands 120 miles off the coast of the US, has now gone extinct. While the species can still be found in the Caribbean, it has disappeared entirely from the United States, making it locally extinct. This study was published in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.
This tropical cactus, characterised by its impressive lengths, long branching arms, and garlic-scented, cream-coloured flowers, has been deemed locally extinct in the US. As scientists scramble to find ways to restore it, the impending threat of more plant species on the verge of extinction looms over us.
How did the extinction occur?
The process occurred slowly but surely. As sea levels rose and the islands became inundated with saltwater, soil depletion began, and the cacti started decaying inside. As the soil completely washed away due to hurricanes and exceptionally high tides, the mortality rate of the cacti significantly increased, the Florida Museum of Natural History told The Week.
As the higher tides ruined freshwater on the islands, small mammals resorted to chewing on the stems of the cacti to quench their thirst. Jimmy Lange, a research botanist at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Florida, told The Washington Post that although there was no footage of such an incident, the bite marks on the stems might have been caused by a rat or raccoon.
What’s next?
Scientists had foreshadowed the extinction—only 60 individuals remained in the wild in 2015. Lange’s team recovered six individuals who are now growing in human care. Cacti are among the most endangered species on Earth, and climate change is only accelerating their extinction.
NASA has predicted that the entire archipelago of Florida Keys, with all its species, will be inundated by the end of this century. While the rescued plants may be reintroduced into the wild one day, a long-term solution is required to save the species now threatened by climatic and other factors.
Attributed to rising sea levels and several hurricanes in the area, the extinction of the Key Largo cactus is the first in a series of plant and animal extinctions yet to come. Read further about how it occurred and what scientists are doing about it. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
