Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 14, 1995                   TAG: 9511140082
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.N. REPORT: HUMAN BEINGS ENDANGERING PLANTS, ANIMALS

Human beings are destroying animal and plant species at an ``alarming rate,'' according to the United Nations' first comprehensive report on the world's fading biodiversity. Nearly 30,000 species are threatened with extinction, it said.

The report to be released today at an international conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, contains what is said to be the best estimate yet of the total number of species in the world - 13 million to 14 million.

Only about 1.75 million species - from bacteria to the relatively tiny group of vertebrates - have been formally identified and given scientific names. The biggest group of undocumented species is insects, with more than 7 million varieties not described.

In addition to the increase of endangered species, the 1,140-page Global Biodiversity Assessment chronicles the loss of genes, habitats and ecosystems. The report, funded by the Global Environmental Facility for the U.N. Environment Program, is the result of work by about 1,500 scientific experts from around the world.

``Biodiversity represents the very foundation of human existence,'' according to a summary of the report. ``Yet by our heedless actions, we are eroding this biological capital at an alarming rate.''

An example cited in the report of the possible benefits of maintaining seemingly unimportant species is the day-flying moth, Urania fulgens.

The moth, found in South America and Mexico, metamorphoses from a caterpillar that feeds exclusively on a particular variety of trees and vines known as Omphalea.

Heavy defoliation by the caterpillar causes the trees to produce a protective chemical toxin, making them unpalatable to the moths. The toxic plant compounds have been shown to be effective against AIDS in test-tube experiments.

The toxin is produced only from the interaction of a large population of moths and the plants.

The assessment puts the minimum number of species threatened with extinction at 5,400 animals and 26,100 plants, but the estimate only covers species that are known and have been examined by scientists.

In the last four centuries, 484 animal and 654 recorded plant species have become extinct, according to the report.

The report estimates that extinctions because of the presence of human beings are 50 to 100 times what they would be without people.

Threatened tropical forests are believed to hide millions of species awaiting scientific scrutiny.

The report cites several reasons for the decline in species, including:

Increased population and economic development deplete biological resources.

Failure to consider the long-term consequences of actions that destroy habitat, exploit natural resources and introduce non-native species.

Failure of economic markets to recognize the true value of maintaining the variety of species.

Increased human migration and travel and international trade.

The spread of water and air pollution.