Almost 500 plants and animals became extinct in England in the past two millennia - with most vanishing in the last 200 years, according to a study.
The audit of 492 species which vanished from British countryside stretches from ancient losses such as the lynx, to the disappearance in the last few decades of the greater mouse-eared bat and shorthaired bumblebee.
The study, published yesterday by the government's conservation agency Natural England, also warns that almost 1,000 native species - including the leatherback turtle and the pine martin - are under threat.
While a few "big, hairy and scary" animals such as bears and wolves were hunted to extinction, most vanished species have gone because of land management changes including the industrialisation of farming, habitat loss, persecution and pollution.
And even where species have not become extinct at a national level, many have disappeared from some parts of the country, leaving populations fragmented and more at risk from threats including storms and a changing climate, the report warned.
But conservation efforts reversed the fortunes of some species, with reintroductions of once-extinct wildlife including the red kite, the large blue butterfly and the pool frog.
Action to improve habitat for species such as bitterns, sand lizards and the ladybird spider also helped stem and reverse declines in those animals.
But with 943 English species listed on the UK's Biodiversity Action Plan because of the threats facing them, Natural England is calling for a "step change" in the way landscapes are managed to reverse the declines in the country's biodiversity.
Natural England's chief scientist Tom Tew said the Lost Life report - drawing on records which in some cases dated back two millennia but came mostly from 19th century to the present day - was not a "story of unmitigated doom and gloom".
But it did present a stark message about the state of England's wildlife, he said.
"The message is clear: We are losing species at an alarming rate and many of our species are seriously threatened."
He said species once described as "common", such as common sparrows, common frogs and common toads, were no longer common.
All of England's reptile species and our dolphin and whales are in decline, he said, along with 60 per cent of amphibians, 40 per cent of freshwater fish, 40 per cent of land mammals, a third of butterflies and bees and around a quarter of breeding birds and vascular plants.
"This suggests the extinctions we have recorded could turn out to be the tip of the iceberg unless we take action."
Dr Tew suggested funding for conservation should rise from current levels of £8-18 million up to £800 million.
Large areas of habitat should be created, and linked up, to provide space for wildlife and knock-on benefits to society.
He said: "You don't need to be an 'ologist' to understand that when we lose our wildlife we lose something precious that reduces our quality of life.
"Every species has a role, like the rivets in an aeroplane or bricks in a dam, and the overall structure of the environment is weakened when you lose a species."
He said a healthy, natural environment was necessary to provide important services such as clean air and water, floodwater and carbon storage and productive land for growing food.
And he warned that allowing species to become extinct could push whole ecosystems to "tipping points" where the quality of the environment becomes degraded.
"With those rivets in an aeroplane, you could take out 100 and the plane will keep flying, but the next one that pops out could be the one holding the propeller on and then you're in trouble," he said.