New England Wild Flower Society has released the "State of the Plants" Report, the most comprehensive assessment of New England plant communities ever assembled.
The peer-reviewed report draws on hundreds of studies of New England plant communities and the fieldwork of more than 700 volunteers and professional botanists across New England. It brings together the expertise of leading botanical researchers and members of the 60 partner organizations in the Society’s New England Plant Conservation Program, and was peer-reviewed by experts at Natural Heritage programs across New England.
The report takes a habitat-based approach, profiling five key habitat types, from New England’s mountains to the sea, and the major environmental issues facing each habitat. It goes on to describe the impact of broad stressors such as climate change that affect many habitats simultaneously.
The report assesses the current status of hundreds of rare and declining plant species across all the habitats, which represent a broad cross-section of the nearly 600 rare species across the region. In addition, the report articulates a research agenda to bridge gaps in our knowledge of plant species and ecological communities and discusses frameworks for conserving and managing the thousands of species that together comprise our diverse and vibrant flora.
