絶滅する前に地球上の種に名前を付けられるのか?
Mark J Costello1, Robert M May, Nigel E Stork
1Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland, Post Office Box 349, Warkworth, New Zealand. m.costello@auckland.ac.nz
まとめ
種の大量絶滅の懸念は,種の数が推定より低く,分類学的な専門知識が増加しているため,誇張されています. 保護の取り組みは,一般的な考えに反して,絶滅を遅らせるのに役立ちます.
科学分野:
- 生物多様性 科学 科学 生物多様性
- タクソノミーは,分類法です.
- 保護生物学の保護生物学
背景:
- 高い種の絶滅率と,種の発見能力の低下に関する懸念が存在します.
- 過去の世界の種豊かさの推定値は,過大評価されている可能性があります.
研究 の 目的:
- 世界的な種の豊かさと,現在の分類学的な専門知識の現状を再評価する.
- 絶滅率の推定値の正確性と保全努力の影響を評価する.
主な方法:
- 種の記述と分類番号に関する新しいデータベースの分析.
- 種豊かさの推定と絶滅率に関する既存の文献のレビュー.
- 種の生存に対する保全の影響の評価.
主要な成果:
- 推定の世界的な種豊かさは500万±300万種で,150万種が命名されています.
- 分類学者の数は増加しており,種の記述の割合を上回っています.
- 絶滅の割合は,数値的に定量化されていないが,十年あたり0.01%から5%の範囲にある.
結論:
- 現在の大量絶滅の懸念は,種数が減り,分類能力が増加しているため,ほとんど根拠がありません.
- 保護の取り組みは,種の絶滅を効果的に遅らせている.
- 分類学的な生産性と生物多様性の理解を高めるためのさらなる行動が提案されています.
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