Neglected Biodiversity and the Current Extinction Crisis

What is neglected biodiversity? More than 14 million species are estimated to exist worldwide, of which approximately 1.7 million, or 12 percent, have been documented by scientists over the last three centuries. Well-studied and iconic groups of organisms such as plants, mammals and birds account for only about 18 percent of the total documented life on Earth. The other 82 percent, more than 1 million species, collectively constitute what we here call “neglected biodiversity,” or species that are not recognized, understood, or appreciated by most people. Considering that scientists agree that the majority of the 12 million or so species remaining to be discovered also belong to the Earth’s “neglected biodiversity,” it is evident that much more than 82 percent of global diversity is “neglected.” Neglected biodiversity may be overlooked and underappreciated, but it covers an immense array of life forms, including many that are beautiful and eye catching (for example, striped land snails, elaborate stick insects, giant earthworms, and mushrooms that glow in the dark). Even those that may not stand out to the naked eye are hidden treasures of the natural world (such as tiny diatoms made of natural glass, delicate green algae, microbial communities that color the hot springs of Yellowstone, or tardigrades, the bear-like creatures that live inside moss and lichen cushions and carpets). Indeed, the neglected 82 percent are some of the mo...
Source: ActionBioscience - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news