Perhaps the largest threat to most ferns' survival is that which currently threatens the rest of our world's biodiversity to varying degrees: human environmental degradation and climate change. If other, more vulnerable plants and animals within a fern's ecosystem begin to die off or experience significant changes to their habitat, the fern itself will not be able to survive either. For example, if fewer animals pass by the fern to carry its spores, it cannot reproduce as easily. Or if a forest fern suddenly receives much more light exposure because taller trees and plants are dying off, its own life may also be at risk. It takes only one small change in the surrounding environment to affect all living things within an ecosystem.
