[ti:Group Says Many US Plants, Animals at Risk] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]An environmental group says 40 percent of animals [00:04.92]and 34 percent of plants in the United States [00:09.64]are at risk of disappearing. [00:13.68]The group NatureServe recently released its report. [00:18.08]The non-profit group is based [00:20.92]near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Virginia. [00:25.84]NatureServe said 41 percent of ecosystems [00:30.00]in the country are also facing collapse. [00:33.32]Ecosystems are everything that exists in an environment [00:38.36]including lifeforms, land and water. [00:43.16]Plants and animals of many kinds, including crayfish, [00:47.92]cacti, and freshwater mussels, [00:51.00]are in danger, the report said. [00:55.56]The organization examined data [00:58.64]from over 1,000 scientists in the United States and Canada. [01:04.72]It said the report was its most complete yet, [01:09.52]using 50 years of information [01:12.84]on the health of animals, plants and ecosystems. [01:18.52]The report provides pictures and maps of areas [01:22.96]that the group says are unprotected [01:26.36]and where animals and plants are most threatened. [01:31.52]Sean O'Brien is the president of NatureServe. [01:36.04]He said the data in the report was "terrifying." [01:41.52]He hoped it would help lawmakers support legislation [01:45.92]like the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, [01:49.68]which failed to gain support last year. [01:54.32]For example, among the species at risk of extinction [01:58.68]is the Venus flytrap, a plant that "eats" insects. [02:03.76]The report says it is only found in the wild [02:07.88]in a few places in the states of North and South Carolina. [02:14.24]NatureServe said that about half of all species [02:18.52]of cacti in the U.S. are at risk of extinction. [02:24.08]It said 200 species of trees might die out. [02:29.48]The report also said that America's large northern grasslands [02:34.84]are among the ecosystems most threatened. [02:38.32]Over half of 78 kinds of grassland are at risk of collapse. [02:45.84]The main threats to plants, animals and ecosystems [02:50.28]include environmental destruction, land-use change, [02:55.08]invasive species, damming and river pollution, and climate change. [03:03.96]California, Texas and the southeastern United States [03:08.36]are where the highest percentages of plants, [03:11.52]animals and ecosystems are at risk. [03:15.16]Those areas have many different forms of life. [03:19.60]Wesley Knapp is the head plant scientist at NatureServe. [03:24.60]He said those parts of America [03:28.08]also have had a lot of population growth in recent years. [03:33.60]Knapp said lawmakers usually do not provide as much money [03:38.48]for plant conservation than they do for animals. [03:42.36]The study said there are about 1,250 plants [03:47.64]at serious risk of extinction. [03:52.20]John Kanter is a biologist with the National Wildlife Federation, [03:57.40]a non-profit group also based in Virginia. [04:01.08]He was not involved in the report. [04:04.28]But he said the data could guide state and area officials [04:09.32]in creating effective State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs). [04:15.28]Officials create SWAPs every 10 years [04:18.84]to receive federal money to protect endangered species. [04:25.24]Currently $50 million in federal money is divided up [04:30.80]among all states to carry out their SWAPs. [04:34.80]The Recovering America's Wildlife Act [04:38.88]would have increased that amount to $1.4 billion, [04:43.56]or 28 times the current amount. [04:47.88]Kanter said the bill would have increased states' abilities [04:52.40]to protect plants and animals. [04:55.08]Lawmakers who support the bill [04:57.72]have said they would reintroduce it. [05:01.56]Kanter added that the NatureServe report [05:04.92]can guide officials on how to best spend the public's money. [05:10.52]He said biodiversity, [05:12.72]the presence of many different forms of life, is important. [05:18.56]"Our biodiversity and its conservation [05:22.12]is like a 'nature savings account' [05:24.60]and if we don't have this kind of accounting of what's out there [05:28.64]and how's it doing, and what are the threats, [05:31.92]there's no way to prioritize action," Kanter said. [05:36.76]I'm Dan Novak. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM