Fewer Species Than Thought

A new research claims that the number of species of animals and plants on the planet has been greatly exaggerated.

17:09 02 June 2015

For decades, scientists have debated over the actual number of different species that live on Earth. A recent study, which claims that previous estimate were exaggerated, says that there’s only about 1.5 million beetles, 5.5 million insects, and 6.8 million terrestrial arthropods. The findings, which were published in Proceedings of the National Academy Science, can help conservation planning. 

 

Professor Nigel Stork, of Griffith University in Queensland, said: “It has been said we don’t know to the nearest order of magnitude just how many species with which we share the planet.

 

“Some say it could be as low as two million - others suggest up to 100 million.

 

“By narrowing down how many species exist within the largest group - the insects and other arthropods - we are now in a position to try to improve estimates for all species including plants, fungi and vertebrates.

 

“Understanding how many species there are and how many there might have been is critical to understanding how much humans have impacted biodiversity and whether we are at the start of - or even in the middle of - an extinction crisis.”