UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The number of tree species on Earth

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. Green open access

[thumbnail of pnas.2115329119.pdf]
Preview
Text
pnas.2115329119.pdf - Published Version

Download (1MB) | Preview

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
Downloads since deposit
21Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item