Answer:
The “fact” that biological diversity—biodiversity—is declining and that humanity is ultimately responsible has become common knowledge among scientists, citizens, and policymakers. Biodiversity loss is the mantra for conservation; we are exhausting biodiversity on the planet at a far greater rate than it can replenish itself (1). Furthermore, these losses could greatly reduce the benefits (ecosystem services) that humans obtain from nature, such as the pollination of crops, absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and provision of wild foods . However, is biodiversity truly declining? Remarkably, Vellend et al. export that, on average, the local diversity of plants has not decreased in recent decades. If anything, it has increased.
Vellend et al. searched the literature for studies that examined changes in local plant diversity. They found 168 studies from around the world, where the number of plant species had been counted, in over 16,000 plots in total, over periods of 5–50 or more years. They analyzed their global-scale dataset, finding an average 7.6% increase per decade in the number of species present in plots. This average was not significantly different from zero, so they concluded that there has been no overall change in local plant diversity, a finding that is extremely interesting.
