Indonesia. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
By Ian James, Associated Press
From mangrove swamps in Venezuela to lowland forests in Indonesia, entire communities of plants and animals are under threat. Now scientists are figuring out how to catalog and map the world’s most threatened ecosystems, just like their familiar list of endangered species.
Some experts say drawing up a global “Red List” of vanishing ecosystems would help them spot looming crises caused by everything from climate change to the cutting of forests, and would sharpen their focus on areas to conserve…
