The specimens contained in the world's natural history museums are the basis for most of what scientists
know about biodiversity.
The discovery «highlights that even in groups as well - known as birds we've just scratched the surface of what we really need to
know about biodiversity,» says avian systematist Shannon Hackett of Chicago's Field Museum, who calls the research «good detective work.»
«This tells just how little we still
know about the biodiversity of organisms through Earth's history.
Although the pools are abundant, little is
known about their biodiversity — and how that mix may fare under the effects of climate change.
Not exact matches
Everything we
know about population genetics indicates that founding kind pairs would not be capable of generating the necessary genetic diversity to invariably survive, let alone yield present day observable
biodiversity.
We don't
know about you but we'd rather support farmers who let their animals free range, encourage
biodiversity, don't use harsh chemicals and GM and take pride in providing us with food the way it's meant to be — without traces of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics.
While little to nothing is
known about when the vast majority of butterfly and moth species fly, eat and mate, the study provides a basic and much - needed framework by compiling existing data, said lead author Akito Kawahara, associate professor and curator at the museum's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and
Biodiversity at the University of Florida.
Biological invasions pose major threats to
biodiversity, but little is
known about how evolution might alter their impacts over time.
«With the Earth in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, it is astonishing how little we
know about our planet's
biodiversity, even for charismatic groups such as tarantulas.»
«The gap between what we
know and don't
know about Earth's
biodiversity is still tremendous, but technology is playing a major role in closing it and helping us conserve
biodiversity more intelligently and efficiently,» said coauthor Lucas N. Joppa, a conservation scientist at Microsoft's Computational Science Laboratory in Cambridge, U.K.
She is talking
about Brazil's environmental regulators, including the national park agency,
known as the Chico Mendes Institute for
Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBIO), and the Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm,
known as the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA).
And they really don't
know a lot
about climate change; or they don't
know a lot
about evolution, or they don't
know a lot
about biodiversity.
By now,
biodiversity is a well
known term even in the broader public, as it is used in many media reports
about species extinction, natural resources or climate change.
PADI's Divemaster course is offered in the centre of the sensational Coral Triangle, a place
known for its masses of marine
biodiversity, so this in itself is something to be excited
about.
The author connects unrelated issues
about trees, conflates what we
know about trees from different latitudes, and fails to convey the main point: tropical trees keep climate cool locally, help keep rainfall rates high, and have innumerable non-climate benefits including maintaining habitat and supporting
biodiversity.
The letter begins «As you
know, an overwhelming majority of climate scientists are convinced
about the potentially serious adverse effects of human - induced climate change on human health, agriculture, and
biodiversity.»
I
know there have been surveys that aim to show the level of consensus on the existence of man - made climate change, but were climate scientists polled
about «potentially serious adverse effects... on human health, agriculture and
biodiversity»?
E.O. Wilson, the eminent biologist credited with bringing the term
biodiversity into the public lexicon, spoke on the loss of species and how much we just don't
know about the spectrum of life on the planet.
«With the Earth in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, it is astonishing how little we
know about our planet's
biodiversity, even for charismatic groups such as tarantulas.»
Having a special year to draw attention to the importance of this issue
no doubt has a role to play, but much like how the end of the 2010 Year of
Biodiversity saw a slew of reports detailing how little progress is actually being made to preserve the ecosystems we all depend on, somehow I can't help but feel like come December 2011 we'll all be reading
about how we're still not doing enough to preserve the forests upon which so much life depends.