By Lydia Murphy

The latest Red List to be published under the Global Tree Assessment shows that half of all Magnolia species are threatened with extinction in the wild. To find such a high proportion of threatened species in such a well-known and widely cultivated plant family is alarming, and signals the need for more concerted conservation action to protect these valuable trees.

More than half of all tree species in the world's most diverse forest--the Amazon--may be globally threatened, according to a new study. But the study also suggests that Amazonian parks, reserves, and indigenous territories, if properly managed, will protect most of the threatened species.

The findings were announced by a research team comprising 158 researchers from 21 countries, led by Hans ter Steege of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands and Nigel Pitman of The Field Museum in Chicago, USA.