Science knows no less 1.5 million speciesbut this only represents 10% of those living with us. Less than a decade has passed since Yale University (USA) introduced the ‘Map of Life’, a database showing how species are distributed across the planet. However, the rapid pace of climate change and threats to ecosystems force us to look much further, even to look for animals that have been hidden from humans for centuries.
So where are these species? To solve this question ‘A map of life waiting to be discovered’ emerges, also edited by Yale University. In this new source published in the magazine Nature Ecology and EvolutionResearchers have calculated the probability of discovering a new animal or plant in different parts of the planet.
This map to reference in this link, is coined as a “moral imperative” by biologists Walter Jetz and Mario Moura, two co-authors of the project. As Jetz told Europa Press, “as the pace of climate change increases, “Many species will become extinct before they even realize they exist.”
Therefore, the purpose of the map is to bring hidden species to light, help protect them, and prevent them from disappearing without even knowing it. “Such ignorance is inexcusable, and we owe this knowledge to future generations,” the researcher emphasizes.
To help find some of these species (Jetz and Moura), They collected huge amounts of data. Specifically, information was obtained on all of the up to 32,000 known species of land vertebrates, including where they usually live, the geographical range in which they can be found, dates of discovery, and some of their biological characteristics.
After this initial analysis, scientists They were able to extrapolate this data to find where new species might emerge It is one of the four major groups of vertebrates (birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals).
Eleven essential factors
Scientists analyzed 11 key factors to better predict where they might be found. So, for example, they concluded that large animals were already present and the likelihood of finding other large animals was lower in an overpopulated area. However, new species are likely to be found in inaccessible places.
“The chances of discovering a new species are not all the same”, adds Moura. For example, the emu, a small Australian bird, was discovered in 1790, shortly after taxonomic descriptions of the species began. Still hard to find little frogBrachycephalus guarani‘ It was not discovered in Brazil until 2012, indicating that more amphibians of this species have not yet been found.
The chances of discovering new species vary depending on where in the world they are found. Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar and Colombia are generally the places where new species are most likely to be found. In fact, a quarter of all potential discoveries are concentrated in these four places. The potential for discovery of new species in some of these regions is up to 2% in some cases.
Very few possibilities in Spain
For example, the probability of finding a new species in Spain is quite low. In fact, the greatest exploration potential in Spain is concentrated in the possibility of finding. New birds in the Canary Islands (0.28%) or new reptiles in Castilla y León, in the region between Salamanca and Zamora (0.19%).
But Moura and Jetz realize they’re working with some obstacles, so another variable they focused on to create this map is knowing the number of taxonomists looking for them. “We tend to discover the obvious first and then the hidden,” insists Jetz, who calls for more funding to enable taxonomic research to meet this challenge.
The global distribution of expert taxonomists is highly uneven and therefore This map of undiscovered life could help guide new researchJetz pointed out. Following this success, the research group wants to continue expanding their research and is working on how to include plant and invertebrate species in the map in the coming years.
“This information will help governments and scientific institutions know where to focus their efforts to document and protect biodiversity,” Jetz concludes.
Website containing the ‘Life to Discover’ map: https://mol.org/patterns/discovery
……………………
Contact address of the environmental department:[email protected]