The Key Largo tree cactus, Pilosocereus millspaughii, has become the first Florida species to go locally extinct due to climate change.

Sea level rise has been identified as the cause of this extinction, marking it as the first local extinction in the US directly attributed to the climate emergency.

The cactus species now only survives in remote Caribbean islands, primarily due to saltwater intrusion and hurricanes, with no natural population left in the Florida Keys.

Efforts to save the species by relocating surviving cacti were unsuccessful, leading researchers to salvage remaining fragments for conservation.

The extinction of the Key Largo tree cactus serves as a cautionary tale for the future of other coastal plants in a warming planet.

Researchers are collaborating with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to replant some cacti in the wild, despite the challenges posed by climate change.

This extinction underscores the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect biodiversity amidst habitat loss, overcollecting, invasive species, and other degrading factors in South Florida.