Gatti, Roberto Cazzolla;
Reich, Peter B;
Gamarra, Javier GP;
Crowther, Tom;
Hui, Cang;
Morera, Albert;
Bastin, Jean-Francois;
... Liang, Jingjing; + view all
(2022)
The number of tree species on Earth.
Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)
, 119
(6)
, Article e2115329119. 10.1073/pnas.2115329119.
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Abstract
One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground-sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The number of tree species on Earth |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.2115329119 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115329119 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Science & Technology - Other Topics, biodiversity, forests, hyperdominance, rarity, richness, BIODIVERSITY, RICHNESS, DIVERSITY, SAMPLE, PATTERNS, HETEROGENEITY, COMPLETENESS, ABUNDANCE, COVERAGE, ECOLOGY |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10149177 |
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