Predicting unknown species numbers using discovery curves

Bebber, Daniel P.; Marriott, F. H. C.; Gaston, Kevin J.; Harris, Stephen; Scotland, Robert W.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0464

Cited by 116 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…One of the most important and controversial aspects of such studies is estimating the number of species left to be discovered because it has implications on how scientific resources should be allocated (Costello et al, 2013a,b;Mora et al, 2013). Estimates are generally based in some way on trends in our current records of biodiversity, e.g., the rate at which species have been previously described (Bebber et al, 2007;Costello et al, 2012). Despite increasing sophistication in the methods used to arrive at these estimates, there is a lack of convergence in the values (Mora et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biases in biodiversity: wide-ranging species are discovered first in the deep sea

Higgs

Attrill

2015

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Calculating global estimates for total species richness is fraught by the uncertainty in estimating the number of species left to be discovered. The deep-sea is widely regarded as one of the largest sources of uncertainty in these calculations, since so much of this realm has not yet been explored. Most estimates of species left to be discovered are reliant on previous rates of species description, yet these rates are likely to be biased. One well-known bias from terrestrial studies is that wide-ranging species tend to be described earlier. To test this hypothesis for the deep sea, spatial data from the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) were combined with taxonomic data from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) to carry out a meta-analysis on all species records found below 300 m. Results show a historical bias in species descriptions, with wide-ranging species over-represented in our current catalogs of deep-sea species richness. This suggests that current estimates of deep-sea species richness underestimate the true proportion of narrow-ranged species and hence total species in the deep oceans.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biases in biodiversity: wide-ranging species are discovered first in the deep sea

Higgs

Attrill

2015

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…The approach involves plotting a cumulative frequency curve for the taxon with the expectation that this becomes asymptotic when the inventory is reaching completion and new species are becoming more diffi cult to fi nd. Bebber et al (2007) have shown that estimating the number of species using these curves is associated with very large margins of error. However, they are useful to show that the inventory is still not complete.…”

Section: Known Number Of Species In Irelandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Countdown to 2010: Can We Assess Ireland's Insect Species Diversity and Loss?

Regan¹,

Nelson²,

McCormack³

et al. 2011

Biology & Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Acade

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The insects are the most diverse organisms on this planet and play an essential role in ecosystem functioning, yet we know very little about them. In light of the Convention on Biological Diversity, this paper summarises the known insect species numbers for Ireland and questions whether this is a true refl ection of our insect diversity. The total number of known species for Ireland is 11,422. Using species accumulation curves and a comparison with the British fauna, this study shows that the Irish list is incomplete and that the actual species number is much higher. However, even with a reasonable knowledge of the species in Ireland, insects are such speciose, small, and inconspicuous animals that it is diffi cult to assess species loss. It is impossible to know at one point in time the number of insect species in Ireland and, although it is useful to summarise the known number of species, it is essential that biodiversity indicators, such as the Red List Index, are developed.

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“…We suspect this may be due to the time lag between collection and identification and thus a consequence of the taxonomic impediment described above. Bebber et al (2007) were critical Fig. 2.…”

Section: Historic Versus Modern Data -Bees and Butterfliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The value of museums in the production, sharing, and use of entomological data to document hyperdiversity of the changing North

et al. 2017

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If the current rate of climate change continues, the composition, distribution, and relative population sizes of species in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are likely to change considerably. Understanding the magnitude of this change requires a well-documented baseline against which to compare. Although specimen-less observations can help augment such a baseline for the minority of organisms that can be confidently identified in the field or from photographs, the vast majority of species are small-bodied invertebrates, primarily arthropods, that can only be identified from preserved specimens and (or) their tissues. Museum staff archive specimens and make them and their data available for research. This paper describes a number of challenges to the goal of thorough documentation of high-latitude arthropod biodiversity and their potential solutions. Examples are provided from ongoing and recently completed research that demonstrates the value of museum specimens and the sharing of their data via global portals like GBIF.org.Key words: Arctic, biodiversity, Arthropoda, monitoring, inventory, taxonomic bottleneck.Résumé : Si le taux actuel du changement climatique se maintient, la composition, la répar-tition et les tailles de population relatives d'espèces dans les latitudes plus hautes de l'hémi-sphère nord sont susceptibles de changer considérablement. Pour comprendre l'ampleur de ce changement, il faut une ligne de référence bien documentée contre laquelle on peut comparer. Bien que les observations sans spécimens puissent aider à augmenter une telle ligne de référence pour la minorité d'organismes qui peuvent être identifiés avec assurance sur le terrain ou à partir de photographies, la grande majorité d'espèces est composée d'inverté-brés à petit corps, principalement des arthropodes, qui ne peuvent être identifiés qu'à partir de spécimens préservés et (ou) de leurs tissus. Le personnel de musées archive les spécimens et les rend disponibles ainsi que les données connexes aux fins de recherche. Dans cet article, on décrit un certain nombre de défis à l'encontre du but de la documentation minutieuse de la biodiversité d'arthropodes à hautes latitudes et les solutions potentielles à ces défis. On fournit des exemples de recherche en cours et récemment complétée qui démontr-ent la valeur de spécimens de musée et le partage de données via des portails mondiaux comme le Système mondial d'informations sur la biodiversité (GBIF.org).

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Predicting unknown species numbers using discovery curves

Cited by 116 publications

References 19 publications

Biases in biodiversity: wide-ranging species are discovered first in the deep sea

Biases in biodiversity: wide-ranging species are discovered first in the deep sea

Countdown to 2010: Can We Assess Ireland's Insect Species Diversity and Loss?

The value of museums in the production, sharing, and use of entomological data to document hyperdiversity of the changing North

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