Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot
The Cape Floristic Region—the world’s smallest and third richest botanical hotspot—has benefited from sustained levels of taxonomic effort and exploration for almost three centuries, but how close is this to resulting in a near-complete plant species inventory? We analyse a core component of this fl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2017-02-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/2984.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797423760247095296 |
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| author | Martina Treurnicht Jonathan F. Colville Lucas N. Joppa Onno Huyser John Manning |
| author_facet | Martina Treurnicht Jonathan F. Colville Lucas N. Joppa Onno Huyser John Manning |
| author_sort | Martina Treurnicht |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Cape Floristic Region—the world’s smallest and third richest botanical hotspot—has benefited from sustained levels of taxonomic effort and exploration for almost three centuries, but how close is this to resulting in a near-complete plant species inventory? We analyse a core component of this flora over a 250-year period for trends in taxonomic effort and species discovery linked to ecological and conservation attributes. We show that >40% of the current total of species was described within the first 100 years of exploration, followed by a continued steady rate of description. We propose that <1% of the flora is still to be described. We document a relatively constant cohort of taxonomists, working over 250 years at what we interpret to be their ‘taxonomic maximum.’ Rates of description of new species were independent of plant growth-form but narrow-range taxa have constituted a significantly greater proportion of species discoveries since 1950. This suggests that the fraction of undiscovered species predominantly comprises localised endemics that are thus of high conservation concern. Our analysis provides important real-world insights for other hotspots in the context of global strategic plans for biodiversity in informing considerations of the likely effort required in attaining set targets of comprehensive plant inventories. In a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss, we argue for a focused research agenda across disciplines to increase the rate of species descriptions in global biodiversity hotspots. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:52:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3a283bd468ef4b68ab9fb38ffb7b1a55 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:52:28Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-3a283bd468ef4b68ab9fb38ffb7b1a552023-12-03T01:27:11ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592017-02-015e298410.7717/peerj.2984Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspotMartina Treurnicht0Jonathan F. Colville1Lucas N. Joppa2Onno Huyser3John Manning4Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South AfricaKirstenbosch Research Centre, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, Western Cape, South AfricaMicrosoft Research, Redmond, WA, United States of AmericaCentre for Biodiversity Conservation, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Table Mountain Fund (WWF-SA), Cape Town, Western Cape, South AfricaCompton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, Western Cape, South AfricaThe Cape Floristic Region—the world’s smallest and third richest botanical hotspot—has benefited from sustained levels of taxonomic effort and exploration for almost three centuries, but how close is this to resulting in a near-complete plant species inventory? We analyse a core component of this flora over a 250-year period for trends in taxonomic effort and species discovery linked to ecological and conservation attributes. We show that >40% of the current total of species was described within the first 100 years of exploration, followed by a continued steady rate of description. We propose that <1% of the flora is still to be described. We document a relatively constant cohort of taxonomists, working over 250 years at what we interpret to be their ‘taxonomic maximum.’ Rates of description of new species were independent of plant growth-form but narrow-range taxa have constituted a significantly greater proportion of species discoveries since 1950. This suggests that the fraction of undiscovered species predominantly comprises localised endemics that are thus of high conservation concern. Our analysis provides important real-world insights for other hotspots in the context of global strategic plans for biodiversity in informing considerations of the likely effort required in attaining set targets of comprehensive plant inventories. In a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss, we argue for a focused research agenda across disciplines to increase the rate of species descriptions in global biodiversity hotspots.https://peerj.com/articles/2984.pdfSpecies inventorySpecies discoveryTaxonomic effortSpecies accumulationBio-inventoryBotanical exploration |
| spellingShingle | Martina Treurnicht Jonathan F. Colville Lucas N. Joppa Onno Huyser John Manning Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot PeerJ Species inventory Species discovery Taxonomic effort Species accumulation Bio-inventory Botanical exploration |
| title | Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot |
| title_full | Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot |
| title_fullStr | Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot |
| title_full_unstemmed | Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot |
| title_short | Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot |
| title_sort | counting complete finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot |
| topic | Species inventory Species discovery Taxonomic effort Species accumulation Bio-inventory Botanical exploration |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/2984.pdf |
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