Earth could be home to one trillion species, study finds

MAY 3, 2016

by Brett Smith

Despite the fact that scientists have cataloged millions and millions of species, it appears they’ve only scratched the surface.

According to a new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, our planet may be home to around 1 trillion species.

To reach their conclusion, the study team blended microbial, plant and animal population datasets, creating the biggest collection of its kind. In total, the massive catalog represents more than 5.6 million microscopic and macroscopic species from 35,000 sites across the world, excluding Antarctica.

"Estimating the number of species on Earth is among the great challenges in biology," study author Jay T. Lennon, associate professor of biology at Indiana University, said in a news release.

"Until recently, we've lacked the tools to truly estimate the number of microbial species in the natural environment," Lennon added. "The advent of new genetic sequencing technology provides an unprecedentedly large pool of new information."

New techniques, new conclusions

The recent acknowledgement that microorganisms were considerably under-sampled triggered a surge in new microbial sampling attempts within the last few years. The new study amasses 20,376 sampling attempts on bacteria, archaea and microscopic fungi and 14,862 sampling attempts on populations of trees, birds and mammals.

"After analyzing a massive amount of data, we observed simple but powerful trends in how biodiversity changes across scales of abundance,” said Kenneth J. Locey, a postdoctoral biology researcher at IU. “One of these trends is among the most expansive patterns in biology, holding across all magnitudes of abundance in nature."

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Earth faces sixth ‘great extinction’ with 41% of amphibians set to go the way of the dodo

Robin McKie, science editor

Sunday 14 December 2014 00.05 GMT

A stark depiction of the threat hanging over the world’s mammals, reptiles, amphibians and other life forms has been published by the prestigious scientific journal, Nature. A special analysis carried out by the journal indicates that a staggering 41% of all amphibians on the planet now face extinction while 26% of mammal species and 13% of birds are similarly threatened.

Many species are already critically endangered and close to extinction, including the Sumatran elephant, Amur leopard and mountain gorilla. But also in danger of vanishing from the wild, it now appears, are animals that are currently rated as merely being endangered: bonobos, bluefin tuna and loggerhead turtles, for example.

In each case, the finger of blame points directly at human activities. The continuing spread of agriculture is destroying millions of hectares of wild habitats every year, leaving animals without homes, while the introduction of invasive species, often helped by humans, is also devastating native populations. At the same time, pollution and overfishing are destroying marine ecosystems.

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Stephen Hawking: Humans have less than 1,000 years left on Earth

Stephen Hawking believes humanity has less than 1,000 years left on Earth and must embark on more space exploration to help mankind ‘escape beyond out fragile planet’.

The 71-year-old revealed his fears while speaking at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles this week.

‘We must continue to go into space for humanity. We won’t survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet,’ he said.

‘Spreading out into space will have an even greater effect. It will completely change the future of the human race and maybe determine whether we have any future at all.’

It comes as Nasa’s planetary science budget, which would be central to finding another Earth, was cut by $300 million this year to fund other projects.

Professor Hawking, who has been in a wheelchair since being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease 50 years ago, also toured a stem cell laboratory focused on trying to slow the progression of the illness.

Professor Hawking is famous for bringing his concepts to the masses through his best-selling books, including A Brief History Of Time.

He has spent his career decoding the universe, constructing theory and research on black holes and the origin of matter.

He also reiterated his belief at the conference in why humanity exists, referring to M-theory, a unifying physics and mathematics theory which includes the suggestion that there are higher dimensions in space-time.

‘To understand the universe at the deepest level, we have to understand why is there something rather than nothing,’ he said.

‘If you understand how the universe operates, you control it in a way.’

http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/13/stephen-hawking-humans-have-less-than-1000-years-left-on-earth-3614602/

Earth is home to 8.7 million species

There are approximately 8.7 million different types of plant and animal on Earth but 90 per cent of them have yet to be discovered, according to new estimates.

Previous guesses had put the total number of different species at anywhere between three million and 100 million, but a new calculation based on the way in which life forms are classified puts the estimate at the lower end of that scale.

The list of known species currently stands at about 1.2 million, but experts said that advances in technology meant that the remainder could be found and classified within the next century.

The study was undertaken by researchers from the Census of Marine Life, a ten-year project involving 2,700 scientists from more than 80 countries aimed at assessing the diversity of life in our seas and oceans which concluded in October 2010.

Since the 18th century species have been officially classified under a pyramidlike system, with each placed in a series of related groups.

For example humans are categorised in the same order as chimpanzees, the same class as dogs and cats and the same overall kingdom as all other animals.

By Nick Collins, Science Correspondent.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8718166/Earth-is-home-to-8.7-million-species.html

Life discovered in deepest layer of Earth’s crust

Just when you thought we had discovered signs of life everywhere possible on Earth, a new expedition has revealed a complete ecosystem existing in the deepest layer of the planet’s crust.


A drilling expedition towards the Earth’s centre would mean digging through sediment, a layer of basalt, and then hit the gabbroic layer, which lies directly above the mantle.

A team led by Stephen Giovannoni of Oregon State University in Corvallis drilled down to 1391 metres, where temperatures reach 102 degrees Celsius. Here, they found communities of bacteria that were sparse but widespread, reports New Scientist.

But the type of organisms they came across was very different.

One key difference was that archaea were absent in the gabbroic layer. Also, genetic analysis revealed that unlike their upstairs neighbours, many of the gabbroic bugs had evolved to feed off hydrocarbons like methane and benzene.

This could mean that the bacteria migrated down from shallower regions rather than evolving inside the crust.

"This deep biosphere is a very important discovery," said Rolf Pedersen of the University of Bergen, Norway.

He added that the reactions that produce oil and gas abiotically inside the crust could occur in the mantle, meaning life may be thriving deeper yet.

The find is published in PLoS ONE.

'Humans will need two Earths by 2030'

Humans are overusing the planet's resources and will need two Earths by 2030,a new report warns.


According to the Living Planet Report, human demands on natural resources have doubled in under 50 years and are now outstripping what the Earth can provide by more than half; and humanity carries on as it is in use of resources, globally it will need the capacity of two Earths by 2030.

The report said that wildlife in tropical countries is also under huge pressure, with populations of species falling by 60 per cent in three decades, the'Daily Mail'reported.

And the report, from the WWF, the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network, said that British people are still consuming far more than the Earth can cope with.

If everyone lived such a lifestyle, humans would need 2.75 planets to survive, it warned.

The study's authors looked at 8,000 populations of 2,500 species and studied the change in land use and water consumption across the globe.

Britain comes 31st in a list of countries based on their'ecological footprint'- the amount of land and sea each person needs to provide the food, clothes and other products they consume and to absorb the carbon dioxide they emit.

The country has fallen down the league table from having the 15th biggest footprint in the last report two years ago, but WWF attributes this to an increase in other countries'impact rather than a reduction in the UK's use of resources.