The number of tree species on Earth

Author(s):Show less -

Gatti, Roberto Cazzolla ; Reich, Peter B. ; Gamarra, Javier G. P. ; Crowther, Tom ; Hui, Cang ; Morera, Albert ; Bastin, Jean-Francois ; de-Miguel, Sergio ; Nabuurs, Gert-Jan ; Svenning, Jens-Christian ; Serra-Diaz, Josep M. ; Merow, Cory ; Enquist, Brian ; Kamenetsky, Maria ; Lee, Junho ; Zhu, Jun ; Fang, Jinyun ; Jacobs, Douglass F. ; Pijanowski, Bryan ; Banerjee, Arindam ; Giaquinto, Robert A. ; Alberti, Giorgio ; Almeyda Zambrano, Angelica Maria ; Alvarez-Davila, Esteban ; Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro ; Avitabile, Valerio ; Aymard, Gerardo A. ; Balazy, Radomir ; Baraloto, Chris ; Barroso, Jorcely G. ; Bastian, Meredith L. ; Birnbaum, Philippe ; Bitariho, Robert ; Bogaert, Jan ; Bongers, Frans ; Bouriaud, Olivier ; Brancalion, Pedro H. S. ; Brearley, Francis Q. ; Broadbent, Eben North ; Bussotti, Filippo ; Castro da Silva, Wendeson ; Gomes Cesar, Ricardo ; Cesljar, Goran ; Moscoso, Victor Chama ; Chen, Han Y. H. ; Cienciala, Emil ; Clark, Connie J. ; Coomes, David A. ; Dayanandan, Selvadurai ; Decuyper, Mathieu ; Dee, Laura E. ; Del Aguila Pasquel, Jhon ; Derroire, Geraldine ; Djuikouo, Marie Noel Kamdem ; Tran Van Do ; Dolezal, Jiri ; Dordevic, Ilija D. ; Engel, Julien ; Fayle, Tom M. ; Feldpausch, Ted R. ; Fridman, Jonas K. ; Harris, David J. ; Hemp, Andreas ; Hengeveld, Geerten ; Herault, Bruno ; Herold, Martin ; Ibanez, Thomas ; Jagodzinski, Andrzej M. ; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan ; Jeffery, Kathryn J. ; Johannsen, Vivian Kvist ; Jucker, Tommaso ; Kangur, Ahto ; Karminov, Victor N. ; Kartawinata, Kuswata ; Kennard, Deborah K. ; Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian ; Keppel, Gunnar ; Khan, Mohammed Latif ; Khare, Pramod Kumar ; Kileen, Timothy J. ; Kim, Hyun Seok ; Korjus, Henn ; Kumar, Amit ; Kumar, Ashwani ; Laarmann, Diana ; Labriere, Nicolas ; Lang, Mait ; Lewis, Simon L. ; Lukina, Natalia ; Maitner, Brian S. ; Malhi, Yadvinder ; Marshall, Andrew R. ; Martynenko, Olga V. ; Mendoza, Abel L. Monteagudo ; Ontikov, Petr V. ; Ortiz-Malavasi, Edgar ; Camacho, Nadir C. Pallqui ; Paquette, Alain ; Park, Minjee ; Parthasarathy, Narayanaswamy ; Peri, Pablo Luis ; Petronelli, Pascal ; Pfautsch, Sebastian ; Phillips, Oliver L. ; Picard, Nicolas ; Piotto, Daniel ; Poorter, Lourens ; Poulsen, John R. ; Pretzsch, Hans ; Ramirez-Angulo, Hirma ; Correa, Zorayda Restrepo ; Rodeghiero, Mirco ; Gonzales, Rocio Del Pilar Rojas ; Rolim, Samir G. ; Rovero, Francesco ; Rutishauser, Ervan ; Saikia, Purabi ; Salas-Eljatib, Christian ; Schepaschenko, Dmitry ; Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael ; Seben, Vladimir ; Silveira, Marcos ; Slik, Ferry ; Sonke, Bonaventure ; Souza, Alexandre F. ; Sterenczak, Krzysztof Jan ; Svoboda, Miroslav ; Taedoumg, Hermann ; Tchebakova, Nadja ; Terborgh, John ; Tikhonova, Elena ; Torres-Lezama, Armando ; van der Plas, Fons ; Vasquez, Rodolfo ; Viana, Helder ; Vibrans, Alexander C. ; Vilanova, Emilio ; Vos, Vincent A. ; Wang, Hua-Feng ; Westerlund, Bertil ; White, Lee J. T. ; Wiser, Susan K. ; Zawila-Niedzwiecki, Tomasz ; Zemagho, Lise ; Zhu, Zhi-Xin ; Zo-Bi, Irie C. ; Liang, Jingjing

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; v. 119, n. 6, p. 11-pg., 2022-02-08.

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 groundsourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are similar to 73,000 tree species globally, among which similar to 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. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 03/12595-7 - Floristic composition, structure and functioning of the Dense Rainforest nuclei of Picinguaba and Santa Virgínia of Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, State of São Paulo, Brazil
• Grantee: Carlos Alfredo Joly
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 14/14503-7 - Chronosequence and landscape effects in tropical forest succession
• Grantee: Ricardo Gomes César
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 17/05662-2 - The conservation value of abandoned eucalyptus plantation in human-modified landscapes of the Atlantic Forest
• Grantee: Ricardo Gomes César
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate