A team of scientists at Kew Botanical Garden in the English city of Richmond (near London) used artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the risk of extinction of all existing species of flowering plants. According to the study published Tuesday in the journal New Phytologist, experts created a predictive model to analyze the total 328,565 known specimens of this species.
Although the risk of extinction of 53,000 plant species was already known, thanks to artificial intelligence it is now possible to estimate when a particular plant species will disappear, with a certain degree of certainty for each prediction. So say the researchers Their goal is to make crop protection “more accessible and attractive.” for the general public, thereby increasing awareness and action to protect biodiversity.
From this Tuesday, to access the content of the research, it is enough to enter the scientific name of the plant on the website “Kew’s Plants of the World Online”. where the data on their extinction risk will be contained, according to the information. Expert Steven Bachman, author of the study and research leader of the Conservation Assessment and Analysis team at the Botanical Center, expressed hope that the result would encourage “commitment” to protecting endangered species.
“Our results can help scientists set priorities and speed assessments of extinctions for plants that we have identified as potentially at risk but that have not yet been formally analyzed,” he said. The authors already stated this in an earlier version of the study almost half of all flowering plant species in the world – 45% – are in danger.
For Eimear Nic Lughadha, research leader in Bachman’s team and also an author of the study, knowledge is the key to protecting biodiversity. “A valuation can literally change the fortunes of an investmentbecause if the risk of its extinction is known, its conservation can be prioritized,” he said.