If ensuring plant health is not successful against threats such as climate change, pesticides and degraded ecosystems, the world may face total desertification, according to a biodiversity expert.
“Animals and humans can’t live without plants in an ecosystem … the final result can be ecosystem collapse, total desertification,” Nele Marien, forest and biodiversity coordinator at Friends of the Earth International, told Anadolu Agency.
Speaking on the importance of plant health, on the occasion of the declaration of 2020 as “International Year of Plant Health,” she said ecosystems are integral systems, where all parts depend on each other.
“Animals and humans contribute to the healthy functioning of plants in ecosystems,” she said, adding that animals and humans also contribute to the healthy functioning of plants in ecosystems.
Mentioning that plants are quite vulnerable part of the ecosystems, Marien said animals, for example can migrate to different place when they face negative conditions such as hotter temperature but plants’ only choice is their offspring which is at a very “slow pace.”
“Climate change, and disrupted ecosystem functioning, are leading to increased amounts of plant diseases, sometimes with die-offs of plants (or trees) in extensive areas,” she stressed as another threat to plant health.
