SYDNEY: In a study published in Nature magazine, researchers mapped the diversity of plant life on Earth’s islands and found that 21 per cent of the world’s total plant species are endemic to islands, meaning they occur nowhere else on the planet.
At least 94,052 plant species or 31 per cent of the world’s total are native to islands. Of these, 63,280 or 21 per cent only occur on islands, it found. The study assumes importance since island plants are at higher risk of extinction than those on the mainland.