RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil is the country with the largest number of terrestrial vertebrate animal species still unknown to science, according to a projection made by scientists from the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) and Yale University, in the United States.
The researchers developed a model with information about the probability of discovering new species and generated a map of the regions where they are likely to be found. The study was published this Monday, March 22nd, in the scientific journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
According to the research, 60% of these new discoveries should occur in tropical and subtropical humid forests, such as the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest.
To make the projection, the researchers compiled eleven types of information that potentially affect the probability of discovery of terrestrial vertebrate species – a group that includes amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals – such as body size, climatic conditions where they occur and the amount of specialists in these locations.
With this information, they mapped the percentage of known species for each region of the planet and generated a model that anticipates where are those not yet described by science. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic, the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, and NASA.
Ecology PhD Mario Ribeiro de Moura, professor at UFPB and leader of the study, explains that, until today, a large part of the planet’s biodiversity is still unknown: 35 thousand species of terrestrial vertebrates have already been described, but estimates indicate that there must be around 50 thousand. The mapping pointed out that 10% of future discoveries are located in Brazil, twice as many as in other countries with larger quantities. This is mainly an effect of its immense biodiversity, says the biologist.
“Brazil has an amazing biodiversity. Moreover, the binomial system, by which the species discovered by science are named, started in 1758 and was first used in Europe, in the USA, in temperate countries. Here there are many more species, it started later, and we have less investment,” says the researcher.
He points out that research funding is one of the biggest obstacles in Brazil in this area.
“Biodiversity research only happens with public money, unless it is within an environmental licensing project, but in this case it has another purpose. We have scientists who are perfectly capable of making these discoveries, but we don’t do it because we are underfunded, and this has been going on for years,” says Moura.
The researcher explains that the study may guide new biodiversity research and speed up the discovery of species, thus contributing to a better knowledge of their importance and to conservation.
“Everything we do today in biodiversity conservation is based on known species. If we don’t know, we make decisions using incomplete data, for example, if we have plans to carry out a development in an area where it will be less harmful. Without knowing the species, we are ignorant about its importance: whether ecologically, to provide ecosystem services such as pollination, or economically, for health, in the production of food or biopharmaceuticals. It can also be an invasive species, a vector of diseases,” he enumerates.
Countries and types of animals
Besides Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Colombia are the countries with the largest amount of still unknown species. The four together should account for 25% of all future discoveries, according to the research.
When analyzing the type of animal, the study notes that 48% of the species not yet known are reptiles (lizards, snakes), 30% amphibians (mainly frogs, toads, and frogs that occur on the forest floor), 15% mammals (mainly rodents and bats), and 6% birds (mainly song birds).
Source: O Globo