Most Comprehensive Study Ever Suggests 60-70% Of Arthropod Species Unknown To Science
Researchers in Panama have published the results of the most comprehensive survey of arthropods in a small area of tropical rainforest. At a high level, the findings surprise no one: the Panamanian rainforest is full of insects, spiders, and crustaceans. Yet the results also show how little is known about this large group of organisms — 60-70 percent of the species are thought to be new to science.
The study, published in the journal Science, involved more than 100 scientists from 21 countries. The researchers collected nearly 130,000 arthropods using a variety of methods between 2003 and 2004, then spent the next eight years sorting and indetifying them. Overall the team found 6,144 arthropod species in the 0.48-hectare research plot. Extrapolating to the entire 6,000-hectare San Lorenzo forest, the researchers estimate the forest contains 25,000 species of arthropods.
"This is a high number as it implies that for every species of vascular plant, bird or mammal in this forest, you will find 20, 83 and 312 species of arthropods, respectively," said the study's lead author Yves Basset, who serves as the scientific coordinator of the Center for Tropical Forest Sciences Arthropod Initiative at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. "What surprised us the most was that more than half of all species could be found in a single hectare of the forest."
The findings may have implications for estimating the biodiversity of tropical forests, according to Tomas Roslin from the University of Helsinki, one of 35 co-authors of the study.
EDIT
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1213-arthropod-survey-science.html
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