Petri Dish Called Earth. (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Fate of the World's Plants
Trends in ecology & evolution, 2017
A recent report assessing the world's plant species finds continuing progress in completing the taxonomic catalog. However, many undescribed species remain. The report concludes that, presently, 21% of known species risk extinction. We show this statement applies to the short-term and ignores the as-yet undescribed species, which are also likely at risk of extinction. Human actions will extirpate many more by the end of this century.
Science, 1995
Recent extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times their pre-human levels in well-known, but taxonomically diverse groups from widely different environments. If all species currently deemed "threatened" become extinct in the next century, then future extinction rates will be 10 times recent rates. Some threatened species will survive the century, but many species not now threatened will succumb. Regions rich in species found only within them (endemics) dominate the global patterns of extinction. Although new technology provides details of habitat losses, estimates of future extinctions are hampered by our limited knowledge of which areas are rich in endemics.