Plant diversity darkspots for global collection priorities

Did you know that we still have to describe an estimated 15% of plant species to science?

Given that 3 in 4 newly described plant species are threatened with extinction, knowing where this undescribed diversity is is important for guiding conservation. In our recent paper in New Phytologist we used a Bayesian approach to estimate the likely numbers of understribed species per botanical country, and the number of of species that are known to science, but have not been geolocated that in country. We then matched our estimates of undescribed diversity (the diversity "darkspots") with known biodiversity hotspots, finding that they overlapped greatly. However, one region fell through the gaps as not yet being a conservation priority - and that is island of New Guinea...

You can read more about it:

• Kew Website: The dark matter of Botany
• The Guardian: Botanists identify 33 global ‘dark spots’ with thousands of unknown plants​

The Scientific Summary:

• More than 15% of all vascular plant species may remain scientifically undescribed, and many of the > 350 000 described species have no or few geographic records documenting their distribution. Identifying and understanding taxonomic and geographic knowledge shortfalls is key to prioritising future collection and conservation efforts.
• Using extensive data for 343 523 vascular plant species and time-to-event analyses, we conducted multiple tests related to plant taxonomic and geographic data shortfalls, and identified 33 global diversity darkspots (those ‘botanical countries’ predicted to contain most undescribed and not yet recorded species). We defined priority regions for future collection according to several socio-economic and environmental scenarios.
• Most plant diversity darkspots are found within global biodiversity hotspots, with the exception of New Guinea. We identify Colombia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Peru, Philippines and Turkey as global collection priorities under all environmental and socio-economic conditions considered.
• Our study provides a flexible framework to help accelerate the documentation of global plant diversity for the implementation of conservation actions. As digitisation of the world's herbaria progresses, collection and conservation priorities may soon be identifiable at finer scales.