Florida species becomes first local extinction in the U.S. due to sea level rise

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A type of tropical cactus that is only native to the Florida Keys has gone extinct due to climate change, research released earlier this month shows .

The Key Largo tree cactus, known in the United States from only a single population in the Keys, became the first U.S. species to become extinct due to rising sea levels.

In a study conducted by the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, scientists said the extinction can be associated with higher-than-normal tides. Other cacti and all rare plants in the region are also “threatened with a similar fate,” scientists said.

“Exceptionally high tides” also put significant pursue on the cactus tree population by causing saltwater intrusion and soil depletion to the mangroves, which were home to the cacti.

According to the Florida Museum of Natural History , the site where the species grew “originally had a distinct layer of soil and organic matter that allowed the cactus and other plants to grow, but storm surge from hurricanes and exceptionally high tides eroded away this material until there wasn’t much left.”

“Unfortunately, the Key Largo tree cactus may be a bellwether for how other low-lying coastal plants will respond to climate change,” Jennifer Possley, director of regional conservation at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and lead author of the study, told the museum.

While the species has fallen extinct in Florida and the U.S., the Key Largo tree cactus “still grows on a few scattered islands in the Caribbean, including northern Cuba and parts of the Bahamas,” according to the museum.

By 2100, NASA and the NOAA projects a sea level rise in Key West could be 3-4 feet in an intermediate scenario. View the sea level rise scenarios for various locations along the country using this NOAA interactive map .

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