Abstract
One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground-sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | e2115329119 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 8 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Biodiversity
- Forests
- Hyperdominance
- Rarity
- Richness
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
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The number of tree species on Earth. / Gatti, Roberto Cazzolla; Reich, Peter B.; Gamarra, Javier G.P.; Crowther, Tom; Hui, Cang; Morera, Albert; Bastin, Jean Francois; de-Miguel, Sergio; Nabuurs, Gert Jan; Svenning, Jens Christian; Serra-Diaz, Josep M.; Merow, Cory; Enquist, Brian; Kamenetsky, Maria; Lee, Junho; Zhu, Jun; Fang, Jinyun; Jacobs, Douglass F.; Pijanowski, Bryan; Banerjee, Arindam; Giaquinto, Robert A.; Alberti, Giorgio; Zambrano, Angelica Maria Almeyda; Alvarez-Davila, Esteban; Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro; Avitabile, Valerio; Aymard, Gerardo A.; Balazy, Radomir; Baraloto, Chris; Barroso, Jorcely G.; Bastian, Meredith L.; Birnbaum, Philippe; Bitariho, Robert; Bogaert, Jan; Bongers, Frans; Bouriaud, Olivier; Brancalion, Pedro H.S.; Brearley, Francis Q.; Broadbent, Eben North; Bussotti, Filippo; da Silva, Wendeson Castro; César, Ricardo Gomes; Češljar, Goran; Moscoso, Víctor Chama; Chen, Han Y.H.; Cienciala, Emil; Clark, Connie J.; Coomes, David A.; Dayanandan, Selvadurai; Decuyper, Mathieu; Dee, Laura E.; Del Aguila Pasquel, Jhon; Derroire, Géraldine; Djuikouo, Marie Noel Kamdem; van Do, Tran; Dolezal, Jiri; Đorđevic, Ilija; Engel, Julien; Fayle, Tom M.; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Fridman, Jonas K.; Harris, David J.; Hemp, Andreas; Hengeveld, Geerten; Herault, Bruno; Herold, Martin; Ibanez, Thomas; Jagodzinski, Andrzej M.; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan; Jeffery, Kathryn J.; Johannsen, Vivian Kvist; Jucker, Tommaso; Kangur, Ahto; Karminov, Victor N.; Kartawinata, Kuswata; Kennard, Deborah K.; Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian; Keppel, Gunnar; Khan, Mohammed Latif; Khare, Pramod Kumar; Kileen, Timothy J.; Kim, Hyun Seok; Korjus, Henn; Kumar, Amit; Kumar, Ashwani; Laarmann, Diana; Labrière, Nicolas; Lang, Mait; Lewis, Simon L.; Lukina, Natalia; Maitner, Brian S.; Malhi, Yadvinder; Marshall, Andrew R.; Martynenko, Olga V.; Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel L.; Ontikov, Petr V.; Ortiz-Malavasi, Edgar; Pallqui Camacho, Nadir C.; Paquette, Alain; Park, Minjee; Parthasarathy, Narayanaswamy; Peri, Pablo Luis; Petronelli, Pascal; Pfautsch, Sebastian; Phillips, Oliver L.; Picard, Nicolas; Piotto, Daniel; Poorter, Lourens; Poulsen, John R.; Pretzsch, Hans; Ramírez-Angulo, Hirma; Correa, Zorayda Restrepo; Rodeghiero, Mirco; Del Pilar Rojas Gonzáles, Rocío; Rolim, Samir G.; Rovero, Francesco; Rutishauser, Ervan; Saikia, Purabi; Salas-Eljatib, Christian; Schepaschenko, Dmitry; Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael; Šebeň, Vladimír; Silveira, Marcos; Slik, Ferry; Sonké, Bonaventure; Souza, Alexandre F.; Stereńczak, Krzysztof Jan; Svoboda, Miroslav; Taedoumg, Hermann; Tchebakova, Nadja; Terborgh, John; Tikhonova, Elena; Torres-Lezama, Armando; van der Plas, Fons; Vásquez, Rodolfo; Viana, Helder; Vibrans, Alexander C.; Vilanova, Emilio; Vos, Vincent A.; Wang, Hua Feng; Westerlund, Bertil; White, Lee J.T.; Wiser, Susan K.; Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Tomasz; Zemagho, Lise; Zhu, Zhi Xin; Zo-Bi, Irié C.; Liang, Jingjing.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 119, No. 6, e2115329119, 08.02.2022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The number of tree species on Earth
AU - Gatti, Roberto Cazzolla
AU - Reich, Peter B.
AU - Gamarra, Javier G.P.
AU - Crowther, Tom
AU - Hui, Cang
AU - Morera, Albert
AU - Bastin, Jean Francois
AU - de-Miguel, Sergio
AU - Nabuurs, Gert Jan
AU - Svenning, Jens Christian
AU - Serra-Diaz, Josep M.
AU - Merow, Cory
AU - Enquist, Brian
AU - Kamenetsky, Maria
AU - Lee, Junho
AU - Zhu, Jun
AU - Fang, Jinyun
AU - Jacobs, Douglass F.
AU - Pijanowski, Bryan
AU - Banerjee, Arindam
AU - Giaquinto, Robert A.
AU - Alberti, Giorgio
AU - Zambrano, Angelica Maria Almeyda
AU - Alvarez-Davila, Esteban
AU - Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro
AU - Avitabile, Valerio
AU - Aymard, Gerardo A.
AU - Balazy, Radomir
AU - Baraloto, Chris
AU - Barroso, Jorcely G.
AU - Bastian, Meredith L.
AU - Birnbaum, Philippe
AU - Bitariho, Robert
AU - Bogaert, Jan
AU - Bongers, Frans
AU - Bouriaud, Olivier
AU - Brancalion, Pedro H.S.
AU - Brearley, Francis Q.
AU - Broadbent, Eben North
AU - Bussotti, Filippo
AU - da Silva, Wendeson Castro
AU - César, Ricardo Gomes
AU - Češljar, Goran
AU - Moscoso, Víctor Chama
AU - Chen, Han Y.H.
AU - Cienciala, Emil
AU - Clark, Connie J.
AU - Coomes, David A.
AU - Dayanandan, Selvadurai
AU - Decuyper, Mathieu
AU - Dee, Laura E.
AU - Del Aguila Pasquel, Jhon
AU - Derroire, Géraldine
AU - Djuikouo, Marie Noel Kamdem
AU - van Do, Tran
AU - Dolezal, Jiri
AU - Đorđevic, Ilija
AU - Engel, Julien
AU - Fayle, Tom M.
AU - Feldpausch, Ted R.
AU - Fridman, Jonas K.
AU - Harris, David J.
AU - Hemp, Andreas
AU - Hengeveld, Geerten
AU - Herault, Bruno
AU - Herold, Martin
AU - Ibanez, Thomas
AU - Jagodzinski, Andrzej M.
AU - Jaroszewicz, Bogdan
AU - Jeffery, Kathryn J.
AU - Johannsen, Vivian Kvist
AU - Jucker, Tommaso
AU - Kangur, Ahto
AU - Karminov, Victor N.
AU - Kartawinata, Kuswata
AU - Kennard, Deborah K.
AU - Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian
AU - Keppel, Gunnar
AU - Khan, Mohammed Latif
AU - Khare, Pramod Kumar
AU - Kileen, Timothy J.
AU - Kim, Hyun Seok
AU - Korjus, Henn
AU - Kumar, Amit
AU - Kumar, Ashwani
AU - Laarmann, Diana
AU - Labrière, Nicolas
AU - Lang, Mait
AU - Lewis, Simon L.
AU - Lukina, Natalia
AU - Maitner, Brian S.
AU - Malhi, Yadvinder
AU - Marshall, Andrew R.
AU - Martynenko, Olga V.
AU - Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel L.
AU - Ontikov, Petr V.
AU - Ortiz-Malavasi, Edgar
AU - Pallqui Camacho, Nadir C.
AU - Paquette, Alain
AU - Park, Minjee
AU - Parthasarathy, Narayanaswamy
AU - Peri, Pablo Luis
AU - Petronelli, Pascal
AU - Pfautsch, Sebastian
AU - Phillips, Oliver L.
AU - Picard, Nicolas
AU - Piotto, Daniel
AU - Poorter, Lourens
AU - Poulsen, John R.
AU - Pretzsch, Hans
AU - Ramírez-Angulo, Hirma
AU - Correa, Zorayda Restrepo
AU - Rodeghiero, Mirco
AU - Del Pilar Rojas Gonzáles, Rocío
AU - Rolim, Samir G.
AU - Rovero, Francesco
AU - Rutishauser, Ervan
AU - Saikia, Purabi
AU - Salas-Eljatib, Christian
AU - Schepaschenko, Dmitry
AU - Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael
AU - Šebeň, Vladimír
AU - Silveira, Marcos
AU - Slik, Ferry
AU - Sonké, Bonaventure
AU - Souza, Alexandre F.
AU - Stereńczak, Krzysztof Jan
AU - Svoboda, Miroslav
AU - Taedoumg, Hermann
AU - Tchebakova, Nadja
AU - Terborgh, John
AU - Tikhonova, Elena
AU - Torres-Lezama, Armando
AU - van der Plas, Fons
AU - Vásquez, Rodolfo
AU - Viana, Helder
AU - Vibrans, Alexander C.
AU - Vilanova, Emilio
AU - Vos, Vincent A.
AU - Wang, Hua Feng
AU - Westerlund, Bertil
AU - White, Lee J.T.
AU - Wiser, Susan K.
AU - Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Tomasz
AU - Zemagho, Lise
AU - Zhu, Zhi Xin
AU - Zo-Bi, Irié C.
AU - Liang, Jingjing
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/2/8
Y1 - 2022/2/8
N2 - One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground-sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness.
AB - One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground-sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness.
KW - Biodiversity
KW - Forests
KW - Hyperdominance
KW - Rarity
KW - Richness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123974036&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85123974036&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2115329119
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2115329119
M3 - Article
C2 - 35101981
AN - SCOPUS:85123974036
VL - 119
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 6
M1 - e2115329119
ER -