New study reveals the wild side of Earth's life
Source: Agencies |
August 25, 2011, Thursday
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OUR world is a much wilder place than it looks.
A new study estimates that Earth has almost 8.8 million species, but we have discovered only about a quarter of them. And some of those yet to be seen could be in our own backyards, scientists say.
So far, only 1.9 million species have been identified. Recent discoveries have been small and weird - a psychedelic frogfish, a lizard the size of a dime and even a blind hairy mini-lobster at the bottom of the ocean.
The study's co-author, Boris Worm, a biology professor at Canada's Dalhousie University, said: "We are really fairly ignorant about the complexity and colorfulness of this amazing planet. We need to expose more people to those wonders. It really makes you feel differently about this place we inhabit."
While some may question why we need to know the number of species, others say it is important.
There are potential benefits from these undiscovered species, which need to be found before they disappear, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard biologist Edward Wilson, who was not part of this study. Some modern medicine originated from unusual plants and animals.
He said: "We will not know the benefits to humanity (from these species), which potentially are enormous. If we are going to advance medical science, we need to know what is in the environment."
Biologists have long known that there is more to Earth than it seems at first glance, estimating the number of species at somewhere between 3 million and 100 million.
Worm and Camilo Mora, of the University of Hawaii, used complex mathematical models to come up with their estimate of the total number of species.
Their study, published yesterday in online journal PLoS Biology, a publication of the Public Library of Science, estimated the number of species at nearly 8.8 million.
Of those, 6.5 million would be land-based and 2.2 million in the ocean - a priority for the scientists as they are part of the Census of Marine Life, an international group trying to record all ocean life.
Backyards
The research estimates that animals rule, with 7.8 million species, followed by fungi with 611,000, and plants with just under 300,000.
While some new species, such as the strange mini-lobster, are in exotic places, such as undersea hydrothermal vents, "many that remain to be discovered can be found literally in our own backyards," Mora said.
Other scientists, such as Wilson and conservation biologist Stuart Pimm, of Duke University, praised the study, although some said even the 8.8 million figure may be too low.
The study itself said it could be off by about 1.3 million species, with the real number somewhere between 7.5 million and 10.1 million.
But evolutionary biologist Blair Hedges, of Penn State University, said it could be wrong by millions.
A new study estimates that Earth has almost 8.8 million species, but we have discovered only about a quarter of them. And some of those yet to be seen could be in our own backyards, scientists say.
So far, only 1.9 million species have been identified. Recent discoveries have been small and weird - a psychedelic frogfish, a lizard the size of a dime and even a blind hairy mini-lobster at the bottom of the ocean.
The study's co-author, Boris Worm, a biology professor at Canada's Dalhousie University, said: "We are really fairly ignorant about the complexity and colorfulness of this amazing planet. We need to expose more people to those wonders. It really makes you feel differently about this place we inhabit."
While some may question why we need to know the number of species, others say it is important.
There are potential benefits from these undiscovered species, which need to be found before they disappear, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard biologist Edward Wilson, who was not part of this study. Some modern medicine originated from unusual plants and animals.
He said: "We will not know the benefits to humanity (from these species), which potentially are enormous. If we are going to advance medical science, we need to know what is in the environment."
Biologists have long known that there is more to Earth than it seems at first glance, estimating the number of species at somewhere between 3 million and 100 million.
Worm and Camilo Mora, of the University of Hawaii, used complex mathematical models to come up with their estimate of the total number of species.
Their study, published yesterday in online journal PLoS Biology, a publication of the Public Library of Science, estimated the number of species at nearly 8.8 million.
Of those, 6.5 million would be land-based and 2.2 million in the ocean - a priority for the scientists as they are part of the Census of Marine Life, an international group trying to record all ocean life.
Backyards
The research estimates that animals rule, with 7.8 million species, followed by fungi with 611,000, and plants with just under 300,000.
While some new species, such as the strange mini-lobster, are in exotic places, such as undersea hydrothermal vents, "many that remain to be discovered can be found literally in our own backyards," Mora said.
Other scientists, such as Wilson and conservation biologist Stuart Pimm, of Duke University, praised the study, although some said even the 8.8 million figure may be too low.
The study itself said it could be off by about 1.3 million species, with the real number somewhere between 7.5 million and 10.1 million.
But evolutionary biologist Blair Hedges, of Penn State University, said it could be wrong by millions.
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