Missouri Botanical Garden

Transcription

1 Missouri Botanical Garden

2 Global Strategy for Plant Conservation: Role and Importance of Floras, Data Bases, and Checklists Peter H. Raven President, Missouri Botanical Garden Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil July 19, 2006

3

4 Species of Eukaryotes World: 1.6 million species named 10 (8-13) million species estimated Brazil: perhaps one fifth of world total Fewer than 200,000 species recorded About 2 million species are estimated to occur in Brazil, so fewer than one in ten is known to science

5

6 Species of Plants The world total of named plants is about 300,000 species About 50,000 to 60,000 of these species are in Brazil: perhaps one sixth of world total The great majority are poorly known; for 25%, only one to three specimens exist Probably at least 10,000 new species of vascular plants remain to be found in Brazil

7

8

9 We Depend on Plants Directly or indirectly, all of our food comes from plants Most people in the world depend on plants for their medicine For those who use prescription drugs, at least a quarter are derived from plants Ecosystem services Ethically, morally and artistically, plants are important. Future possibilities

10

11

12

13 Herbal Medicines in Mexico

14

15

16

17

18

19 We Have Even Greater Hopes for the Future The genetic code was first outlined in the 1960s The first transfer of a gene from one unrelated species of organism to another took place only in 1973 Transgenic (GM) drugs and crops began to be used within the past 20 years Genomes decoded easily during past 10 years All of these advances depend on the diversity of living organisms, and have great potential for human welfare

20

21 Our Hopes for Biodiversity Improved, sustainable sources of food New foods and medicines Sustainable ecosystems New ways to purify soil and water Sustainable energy Maintain the beauty in our lives

22

23 Impact = P x A x T Population Affluence (Consumption) Technology

24

25 Cairo skyline

26 Changes since 1950 Soil Erosion (Topsoil Loss) 20% Loss of Agricultural Land 20% Loss of More than a Third of Forests Present in 1950 CO 2 Increased by About One Sixth, Driving Global Warming Loss of 6-8% of Stratospheric Ozone

27

28

29 Human Aspirations The policy of Brazil, like that of all developing countries, is based on the premise that everyone can achieve the levels of consumption and standards of living of the industrialized countries This assumption is false if our populations and expectations continue to grow, and we continue to use the same technologies that we have now We need social justice, level populations, and greatly improved technologies Many of those new technologies will be based on plants

30 How many planets do we need? To support everyone at the current standard of living and population zzzxxxxxxxzzzzzzaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

31 How many planets do we need? To support everyone at current standards if the population doubled To support the current population at the standard of developed countries To support everyone if both the population and standards increased

32 Extinction Rates (Assuming 10 million species of eukaryotes) Historically 10 per year From 1500 to 1950 about 1000 per year Currently several 1000 s per year Later this century: 10,000 s per year End result: half of all species may be lost by 2100

33

34

35 Water Hyacinth

36 Ginseng

37

38

39 Lemuroid Ringtail Possum Present + 1 deg deg. 46% 0%

40 70 Number of Predicted Extinctions S-curve fit: adj. r 2 = p = Temperature Increase Core Habitat Remaining (%) N = Current Temperature Scenario

41 Percentage of Species Doomed to Extinction due to Climate Change to Percentage Lost cropland pasture ice tundra boreal forest wooded tundra tropical forest hot desert cool conifer forest tropical woodland savannah grassland/ steppe temperate mixed forest warm mixed forest temperate deciduous forest scrubland C.Thomas et al, Extinction risk from climate change, Nature, Vol 247, 8 January 2004 Biome

42 BIODIVERSITY The living species of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms with which we share this planet are essential for our lives. We hope to build global sustainability on the basis of their properties. Yet we are driving them to extinction at an unprecedented rate. How can this process be slowed down?

43 ACTIONS Set aside natural areas and protect them Bring especially endangered plants and other organisms into cultivation Combat alien invasive species Provide alternatives to gathering species in nature

44 The Bigger Picture Limit, then reverse, global warming Alternative energy sources Social justice Empower people everywhere Population stability New technologies

45

46 Conserving Plant Biodiversity in the Greenhouse

47

48

49 Tibetan girl gathering firewood Langtang, Nepal

50 THE DEVELOPMENT OF TAXONOMY Folk taxonomies hierarchies implicit, not named. All users know the characteristics of the organisms they have named. Linnaean taxonomies soon gained named hierarchies because there were too many taxa for users to remember. Electronic data bases named hierarchies become insignificant, all properties of the taxa can be stored in the system itself and can be retrieved individually.

51

52 MBG: Tropicos Chuck Miller will explain in more detail >3 million specimen records Linked via Internet to GBIF and REMIB (Mexico) Adding 500,000 records per year Nearly 1 million plant names One of the world s largest plant name databases Synonymy, type protologues, references, opinions, projects Over 40,000 Internet database inquiries daily Around-the-clock

53

54 Mapping Endemism

55 Western Ghats India: Site irreplaceabilities based on minimal targets of one occurrence of each endemic and restricted range species and 10% of each habitat surrogate (unique habitats, contiguous evergreen forests).

56 efloras.org Flora information on-line Names Synonyms Descriptions Illustrations Keys Multiple floras in one location All linked to Tropicos Cross-flora searching possible Editable on-line via Internet

57

58 STRATEGIES We have a great many new tools that have become available over the past few decades The possibilities for the formation of generallyavailable electronic data bases are the most important Macromolecular analysis, and now bar coding provide sound and rapid insights Empowering people worldwide will enable us to act appropriately in an age of extinction

59

60

61

62

63 Development of Floras The production of floras (regional accounts) is one way to synthesize knowledge of the world s flora Monographic accounts are another. At Missouri Botanical Garden, we are participating in revisions of the vascular plants of China, Vietnam, Madagascar, Tanzania, the United States and Canada, and parts of Latin America

64

65 MBG Activities Worldwide With cooperative floristic treatments underway in North America, Mesoamerica, the Guyanas, Venezuela, Antioquia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, the Southern Cone, Missouri is revising more than a third of the plants in the world now, and will be delighted to make available through our data base the plants we have from Brazil. Collection and exploration, preservation and utilization: those will be the marks of the future.

66

67 Missouri Botanical Garden