A stocktake of UK nature suggests 60% of animal and plant
species studied have declined in the past 50 years.
The State of Nature report, compiled by 25 wildlife
organisations - from the RSPB to the British Lichen Society - collates assessments
of 3,148 species.
Conservationists hope it will offer clues to the fate of the
UK's 59,000 species.
Beetles and wildlfowers are among the most vulnerable
species.
According to the document, reasons for the decline are
"many and varied" but include rising temperatures and habitat
degradation.