Washington. From the pehuén in the southern cone to the blue eucalyptus of Tasmania in Australia, from the baobabs of Madagascar to the giant sequoias of California, the world has benefited from a large number of tree species, which a new study has quantified.
Researchers on Monday unveiled the world’s largest forest database, which includes more than 44 million individual trees in more than 100,000 locations in 90 countries, allowing them to estimate that the Earth has some 73,300 species of them.
The figure is 14 percent higher than previous estimates. Of that total, it is calculated, according to statistical models, that there are some 9,200 that have not yet been identified by science, and a large proportion of them in South America, according to experts.
South America, home to the highly biodiverse Amazon rainforest and extensive Andean forests, is home to 43 percent of the planet’s tree species and the largest number of rare species, some 8,200.
Trees and forests are much more than just producers of oxygen, said Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, professor of biological diversity and conservation at the University of Bologna, Italy, and lead author of the study published in the journal Proceedings, of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Without trees and forests, we would not have clean water, safe slopes, habitat for many animals, fungi and other plants, the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems, sinks for our excess carbon dioxide, purifiers for our polluted air, etc.” added Gatti, whose research deals with the different nuances of biodiversity and the protection of the global environment that therefore occur at the interface between macroecology, evolutionary biology, biogeography and behavioral ecology.
“In fact, our society tends to consider forests as simple pieces of wood and trees as natural resources, ignoring their fundamental role for humanity by providing ecosystem services that go beyond the mere economic production –although important– of wood, paper and pulp. From trees and forests, humanity derives inspiration, relaxation, spirituality and, essentially, the meaning of life”, added Gatti.
It was discovered that South America has some 27,000 known tree species and 4,000 yet to be identified; Eurasia has 14,000 known and 2,000 unknown, followed by Africa with 10,000 of the former and 1,000 of the latter; North America and Central America, with 9,000 known and 2,000 unknown, and Oceania, with 7,000 and 2,000, respectively.
“By determining a quantitative reference point, our study can contribute to tree and forest conservation efforts,” said Peter Reich, a co-author of the study and a forest ecologist at the Universities of Michigan and Minnesota.
“This information is important because tree species are becoming extinct due to deforestation and climate change, and understanding the value of that diversity requires that we know what’s out there in the first place before we lose it.”
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