Biodiversity under threat as Melbourne's grasslands become suburbs

By Bridie Smith, Science Editor
Updated June 7 2015 - 10:08am, first published May 26 2015 - 4:31pm
Ecologist Mark McDonnell has warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plants species in the next century. Photo: Justin McManus
Ecologist Mark McDonnell has warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plants species in the next century. Photo: Justin McManus
Ecologist Mark McDonnell has warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plants species in the next century. Photo: Justin McManus
Ecologist Mark McDonnell has warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plants species in the next century. Photo: Justin McManus
Ecologist Mark McDonnell has warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plants species in the next century. Photo: Justin McManus
Ecologist Mark McDonnell has warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plants species in the next century. Photo: Justin McManus
Ecologist Mark McDonnell has warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plants species in the next century. Photo: Justin McManus
Ecologist Mark McDonnell has warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plants species in the next century. Photo: Justin McManus
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Ecologists have warned that Melbourne is at risk of losing more than half its native plant species over the next century, with grasslands in Melbourne's west most vulnerable to the city's urban sprawl.