Media release
Faculty of Science
The University of Auckland
***EMBARGOED until 8am Friday 25 January New Zealand Time, equivalent to 2pm U.S. Eastern Time Thursday, 24 January***
New Year brings (potentially) good news for conservation of species on Earth
Claims that most species will go extinct before they can be discovered have been debunked in the latest issue of
Science, by researchers from The University of Auckland, Griffith University, and the University of Oxford.
The scientists show that the claims are based on two key misconceptions: an over-estimation of how many species may
exist on Earth, and the erroneous belief that the number of taxonomists (people who describe and identify species) is
declining.
“Our findings are potentially good news for the conservation of global biodiversity,” says lead author Associate
Professor Mark Costello from The University of Auckland’s Leigh Marine Laboratory, who published the work with Professor
Nigel Stork from Griffith University and Professor Bob May from Oxford.
The authors propose that there are 5 ± 3 million species on Earth – far fewer than has been widely believed – of which
1.5 million species have been named. This re-affirms previous estimates by the three authors, which spanned the upper
and lower reaches of this range.
“Over-estimates of the number of species on Earth are self-defeating because they can make attempts to discover and
conserve biodiversity appear to be hopeless,” says Dr Costello. “Our work suggests that this is far from the case. We
believe that with just a modest increase in effort in taxonomy and conservation, most species could be discovered and
protected from extinction.”
The authors conclude that there have never been so many people describing new species – including professionals and
amateurs, the number may near 50,000. And the community continues to grow, in large part due to the development of
science in Asia and South America, regions that are rich in biodiversity and where many new species are being
discovered.
While the research suggests that species are more likely to be discovered than to go extinct, the authors do not
underplay the seriousness of the threats to species and their habitats. The combination of over-hunting, habitat loss
and climate change, now occurring at both local and global scales, mean that extinction rates could increase very
rapidly in the future.
Dr Costello says that the discovery and naming of species is critical to their conservation. Naming a species gives
formal recognition to its existence, making its conservation far easier. The process of discovery, including exploration
of remote and less studied habitats, also provides the evidence to underpin conservation efforts.
Amongst the authors’ recommendations to increase the rate of species discovery are: getting more people involved in the
work; international coordination of exploration and specimen collections; the development of freely available online
databases; and financial support from governments and other organisations for these efforts.
The current research is published in the latest issue of Science: Costello MJ, May RM, Stork NE. (2013) Can we name
Earth’s species before they go extinct?
ENDS