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Global estimates of species diversity

Global estimates of species diversity. Global estimates of species diversity * Described 1.7 and 2.0 million species: somewhere between 8-15 million yet to be named lowball estimates about 4 million some estimates kick around higher numbers: 20, 30, 40 million

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Global estimates of species diversity

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  1. Global estimates of species diversity Global estimates of species diversity * Described 1.7 and 2.0 million species: somewhere between 8-15 million yet to be named lowball estimates about 4 million some estimates kick around higher numbers: 20, 30, 40 million * Ehrlich and Wilson (1991) pushed estimate to 100,000,000 point out that * many unstudied groups like mites, fungi and bacteria, and unicellular algae + protists -- up to 5,000 species of bacteria in a single gram of soil -- we don't even know within an order of magnitude; we don't even know what taxonomic groups have the greatest diversity: insects, mites, bacteria, nematodes…

  2. The Biodiversity Crisis * The problem is that we are running out of time * Much of world’s biota is in lowland tropical rainforests: somewhere between 50 and 80% * Most unprotected tropical rainforest could be gone in as few as 50 years * Some estimate predict that nearly all tropical forest may be gone by 2135 - less than 5% "protected" worldwide - 55% may have already been cut - 150,000 sq. km per year - 1.8% per year roughly the size of Costa Rica or West Virginia cut per year * E. O. Wilson has predicted that half the world’s might be extinct by the year 2100 - as many as 27,000 disappearing each year This once forested Madagascar landscape lies in ruins.

  3. Hundreds, if not thousands, of white streaks in the photo below indicate the multitude of fires burning in Indonesian Borneo Ground features are almost completely obscured by smoke over Amazon forest.

  4. excerpt from executive summary of Systematics Agenda 2000: A reduction in diversity, with its consequent loss of biological knowledge, erodes our ability to enhance the economic well-being and quality of life of all peoples. The tragic extinction of species challenges the world community to discover, preserve, and understand its diversity before our biological heritage is lost forever. The future welfare of the biosphere depends upon the collective actions of the world’s governments over the next few decades. This was underscored at the recent United Nations Conference on Environmental and Developmental (UNCEP) in Rio de Janeiro. There, the world community recognized the necessity of continued economic growth while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the biosphere. Through their global action plan, AGENDA 21, these nations called for increased knowledge about the Earth’s biodiversity. Systematics Agenda 2000. 1994. Charting the biosphere: A global initiative to discover, describe and classify the world's species. Technical report. American Society of Plant Taxonomy, Society of Systematic Biologists, and the Willi Hennig Society, New York.

  5. Alpha taxonomy crisis…or what can be called the taxonomic impediment • Clearly if we are to study even half of the world’s biota we are out of time • World work force = taxasphere: about 7,000 systematists (Haywood and Watson 1995) • Clearly not enough people: each one of us would have to describe about 20 species a year for the next 50 years if we were describe 7,000,000 species

  6. Present alpha taxonomy crisis is being exacerbated by (1) Move away from alpha taxonomy to emphasis is on phylogenetic reconstruction (2) Supplanting of morphological systematics by molecular systematics (3) The increasing knowledge and training gaps in alpha systematic skills: species description, keys, nomenclature, synonymy, classification…. - few molecular systematists graduate with skills to engage in alpha taxonomy (4) Diminishing rate of replacement for alpha systematists at universities - universities emphasizing molecular hires - smaller institutions still hiring general biologists: students classically trained in systematics, evolution and morphology - museums and botanical gardens still have a strong commitment to morphological systematics but most are down-sizing (5) Rising bar as to what constitutes an acceptable species description (6) Mismatch in where critically imperiled biodiversity is and where professional systematists are located

  7. Systematic Agenda 2000 The international community of systematic biologists proposes the Systematics Agenda 2000 to achieve a scientific objective sought by the nations of the world: To discover, describe, and classify the world's species within 25 years. Meeting this goal will require an intensive international effort involving three interrelated scientific missions. Mission 1: To survey, discover, inventory and describe global species diversity accurately, efficiently, and rapidly Mission 2: To analyze and synthesize the information derived from this global discovery effort into a predictive classification system that reflects the history of life. Mission 3: To organize the information derived from this global program in an efficiently retrievable form that best meets the needs of science and society. Systematics Agenda 2000. 1994. Charting the biosphere: A global initiative to discover, describe and classify the world's species. Technical report. American Society of Plant Taxonomy, Society of Systematic Biologists, and the Willi Hennig Society, New York.

  8. Agnarsson, I. and M. Kuntner. 2007. Taxonomy in a changing world: Seeking solutions for a science in crisis. Sys. Biol. 56: 531-539.

  9. Agnarsson, I. and M. Kuntner. 2007. Taxonomy in a changing world: Seeking solutions for a science in crisis. Sys. Biol. 56: 531-539.

  10. Agnarsson, I. and M. Kuntner. 2007. Taxonomy in a changing world: Seeking solutions for a science in crisis. Sys. Biol. 56: 531-539.

  11. DNA Barcoding * shallow within species branches * splits between species often >2% divergence * ?95% of the species sort cleanly * great utility in species delimitation * neighbor-joining trees NOT phylogenies, but much phylogenetic signal…

  12. Slug Caterpillar Moths: Family Limacodidae

  13. Deepest split in Monoleuca semifascia

  14. Our generation is the first to fully comprehend the threat of the biodiversity crisis and the last with the opportunity to explore and document the species diversity of our planet. Time is rapidly running out. Society’s investment for centuries in great natural history collections can now be repaid through a powerful taxonomic research platform connecting researchers, educators, and decisionmakers. The grand biological challenge of our age is to create a legacy of knowledge for a planet that is soon to be biologically decimated. To meet it, 21st-century taxonomists and museums must have the right tools. Wheeler, Q. D., P. H. Raven, E. O. Wilson.. 2004. Science. 303: 285.

  15. It is time to approach taxonomy as large-scale international science. The goal of discovering, describing, and classifying the species of our planet assuredly qualifies as big science. In the face of the biodiversity crisis, the need for urgency could not be greater. Imagine a taxonomic renaissance built on a foundation of cyber-infrastructure. A taxonomist in her laboratory examines a type specimen in another city in real time with remote microscopy. She sets priorities for teams of collectors in several countries who are also using such tools to evaluate the day’s catch. Turned around, the same digital microscope electronically brings a taxonomist into a classroom. Aspiring taxonomists in developing countries have full access to taxonomic literature formerly reserved for a few great libraries. Peer-reviewed species descriptions are published electronically and made instantly available. Teams of taxonomists speed species exploration, as in the recent National Science Foundation Planetary Biodiversity Inventories. Wheeler, Raven, and Wilson. 2004

  16. Accelerating rate of species description in the face of a planetary biodiversity crisis? * digitization and web access of all type material * digitization of key taxonomic literature = democratization of taxonomy * ?bar-code specimen material prior to morphological study * electronic publication and web access

  17. High-impact taxonomy in the near future will be interdisciplinary, interactive, and almost certainly represent “…the confluence of “Barcode of Life” genetic taxonomy …classical morphological taxonomy, and ‘use it or lose it’ concepts of conservation and biodiversity. (Herre 2006: 3949, on Smith et al., 2006). Agnarsson, I. and M. Kuntner. 2007. Taxonomy in a changing world: Seeking solutions for a science in crisis. Sys. Biol. 56: 531-539. Resplendent Quetzal

  18. Democratize taxonomy. Make taxonomic knowledge accessible. Biodiversity…use it or lose it (Janzen)

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