Scientific support Fewer and fewer plants and animals in the region

Bonn/region · Every tenth native plant species in the region is extinct, and in many areas the number of native mammal species has halved. But there is also positive news.

 Herbst in der Wahner Heide.

Herbst in der Wahner Heide.

Foto: Emilia Ionescu

Every tenth native plant species in the region is extinct and in many habitats there is now only half the original native species of mammals. This is the conclusion reached by scientists from the University of Bonn and Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University who have studied the biological diversity in Bonn and the Rhine-Sieg district. The Natural History Association of the Rhineland and Westphalia has now compiled the results of the study in a book.

But there is also positive news. There are an above-average number of protected areas in the region, including the largest forest nature reserve in NRW, which is home to a large number of different habitats with 2400 plant varieties, 350 species of vertebrates and several thousand types of insect.

450,000 individual data records from more than a hundred data sources were evaluated for the study, which was supported by federal funds. 28 authors from the “Biodiversity in Bonn” network contributed chapters on individual habitats or formulated questions. For the urban habitat, a sort of manual on the basis of the United Nations’ global sustainable development goals was developed. The report presented a year ago was updated, supplemented and is now available as a book to all those interested for the first time.

Publication: “Die Natur der Region Bonn/Rhein-Sieg”, 12 Euro. Decheniana supplement 41. www.naturhistorischerverein.de

(Original text: ga.de. Translation: kc)

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