New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora

Rodrigo Cámara-Leret; David G. Frodin; Frits Adema; Christiane Anderson; Marc S. Appelhans; George Argent; Susana Arias Guerrero; Peter Ashton; William J. Baker; Anders S. Barfod; David Barrington; Renata Borosova; Gemma L.C. Bramley; Marie Briggs; Sven Buerki; Daniel Cahen; Martin W. Callmander; Martin Cheek; Cheng Wei Chen; Barry J. Conn; Mark J.E. Coode; Iain Darbyshire; Sally Dawson; John Dransfield; Clare Drinkell; Brigitta Duyfjes; Atsushi Ebihara; Zacky Ezedin; Long Fei Fu; Osia Gideon; Deden Girmansyah; Rafaël Govaerts; Helen Fortune-Hopkins; Gustavo Hassemer; Alistair Hay; Charlie D. Heatubun; D. J.Nicholas Hind; Peter Hoch; Peter Homot; Peter Hovenkamp; Mark Hughes; Matthew Jebb; Laura Jennings; Tiberius Jimbo; Michael Kessler; Ruth Kiew; Sandra Knapp; Penniel Lamei; Marcus Lehnert; Gwilym P. Lewis; Hans Peter Linder; Stuart Lindsay; Yee Wen Low; Eve Lucas; Jeffrey P. Mancera; Alexandre K. Monro; Alison Moore; David J. Middleton; Hidetoshi Nagamasu; Mark F. Newman; Eimear Nic Lughadha; Pablo H.A. Melo; Daniel J. Ohlsen; Caroline M. Pannell; Barbara Parris; Laura Pearce; Darin S. Penneys; Leon R. Perrie; Peter Petoe; Axel Dalberg Poulsen; Ghillean T. Prance; J. Peter Quakenbush; Niels Raes; Michele Rodda; Zachary S. Rogers; André Schuiteman; Pedro Schwartsburd; Robert W. Scotland; Mark P. Simmons; David A. Simpson; Peter Stevens; Michael Sundue; Weston Testo; Anna Trias-Blasi; Ian Turner; Timothy Utteridge; Lesley Walsingham; Bruce L. Webber; Ran Wei; George D. Weiblen; Maximilian Weigend; Peter Weston; Willem de Wilde; Peter Wilkie; Christine M. Wilmot-Dear; Hannah P. Wilson; John R.I. Wood; Li Bing Zhang; Peter C. van Welzen

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5

New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora

Rodrigo Cámara-Leret, David G. Frodin, Frits Adema, Christiane Anderson, Marc S. Appelhans, George Argent, Susana Arias Guerrero, Peter Ashton, William J. Baker, Anders S. Barfod, David Barrington, Renata Borosova, Gemma L.C. Bramley, Marie Briggs, Sven Buerki, Daniel Cahen, Martin W. Callmander, Martin Cheek, Cheng Wei Chen, Barry J. ConnMark J.E. Coode, Iain Darbyshire, Sally Dawson, John Dransfield, Clare Drinkell, Brigitta Duyfjes, Atsushi Ebihara, Zacky Ezedin, Long Fei Fu, Osia Gideon, Deden Girmansyah, Rafaël Govaerts, Helen Fortune-Hopkins, Gustavo Hassemer, Alistair Hay, Charlie D. Heatubun, D. J.Nicholas Hind, Peter Hoch, Peter Homot, Peter Hovenkamp, Mark Hughes, Matthew Jebb, Laura Jennings, Tiberius Jimbo, Michael Kessler, Ruth Kiew, Sandra Knapp, Penniel Lamei, Marcus Lehnert, Gwilym P. Lewis, Hans Peter Linder, Stuart Lindsay, Yee Wen Low, Eve Lucas, Jeffrey P. Mancera, Alexandre K. Monro, Alison Moore, David J. Middleton, Hidetoshi Nagamasu, Mark F. Newman, Eimear Nic Lughadha, Pablo H.A. Melo, Daniel J. Ohlsen, Caroline M. Pannell, Barbara Parris, Laura Pearce, Darin S. Penneys, Leon R. Perrie, Peter Petoe, Axel Dalberg Poulsen, Ghillean T. Prance, J. Peter Quakenbush, Niels Raes, Michele Rodda, Zachary S. Rogers, André Schuiteman, Pedro Schwartsburd, Robert W. Scotland, Mark P. Simmons, David A. Simpson, Peter Stevens, Michael Sundue, Weston Testo, Anna Trias-Blasi, Ian Turner, Timothy Utteridge, Lesley Walsingham, Bruce L. Webber, Ran Wei, George D. Weiblen, Maximilian Weigend, Peter Weston, Willem de Wilde, Peter Wilkie, Christine M. Wilmot-Dear, Hannah P. Wilson, John R.I. Wood, Li Bing Zhang, Peter C. van Welzen

Plant and Microbial Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

116 Scopus citations

Abstract

New Guinea is the world’s largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries^1,2. Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet³ and to intact ecological gradients—from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands—that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region^4,5, it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural diversity^6,7. So far, however, there has been no attempt to critically catalogue the entire vascular plant diversity of New Guinea. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, expert-verified checklist of the vascular plants of mainland New Guinea and surrounding islands. Our publicly available checklist includes 13,634 species (68% endemic), 1,742 genera and 264 families—suggesting that New Guinea is the most floristically diverse island in the world. Expert knowledge is essential for building checklists in the digital era: reliance on online taxonomic resources alone would have inflated species counts by 22%. Species discovery shows no sign of levelling off, and we discuss steps to accelerate botanical research in the ‘Last Unknown’⁸.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	579-583
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	584
Issue number	7822
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5
State	Published - Aug 27 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access

10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

Cámara-Leret, R., Frodin, D. G., Adema, F., Anderson, C., Appelhans, M. S., Argent, G., Arias Guerrero, S., Ashton, P., Baker, W. J., Barfod, A. S., Barrington, D., Borosova, R., Bramley, G. L. C., Briggs, M., Buerki, S., Cahen, D., Callmander, M. W., Cheek, M., Chen, C. W., ... van Welzen, P. C. (2020). New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora. Nature, 584(7822), 579-583. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5

Cámara-Leret, R, Frodin, DG, Adema, F, Anderson, C, Appelhans, MS, Argent, G, Arias Guerrero, S, Ashton, P, Baker, WJ, Barfod, AS, Barrington, D, Borosova, R, Bramley, GLC, Briggs, M, Buerki, S, Cahen, D, Callmander, MW, Cheek, M, Chen, CW, Conn, BJ, Coode, MJE, Darbyshire, I, Dawson, S, Dransfield, J, Drinkell, C, Duyfjes, B, Ebihara, A, Ezedin, Z, Fu, LF, Gideon, O, Girmansyah, D, Govaerts, R, Fortune-Hopkins, H, Hassemer, G, Hay, A, Heatubun, CD, Hind, DJN, Hoch, P, Homot, P, Hovenkamp, P, Hughes, M, Jebb, M, Jennings, L, Jimbo, T, Kessler, M, Kiew, R, Knapp, S, Lamei, P, Lehnert, M, Lewis, GP, Linder, HP, Lindsay, S, Low, YW, Lucas, E, Mancera, JP, Monro, AK, Moore, A, Middleton, DJ, Nagamasu, H, Newman, MF, Nic Lughadha, E, Melo, PHA, Ohlsen, DJ, Pannell, CM, Parris, B, Pearce, L, Penneys, DS, Perrie, LR, Petoe, P, Poulsen, AD, Prance, GT, Quakenbush, JP, Raes, N, Rodda, M, Rogers, ZS, Schuiteman, A, Schwartsburd, P, Scotland, RW, Simmons, MP, Simpson, DA, Stevens, P, Sundue, M, Testo, W, Trias-Blasi, A, Turner, I, Utteridge, T, Walsingham, L, Webber, BL, Wei, R, Weiblen, GD, Weigend, M, Weston, P, de Wilde, W, Wilkie, P, Wilmot-Dear, CM, Wilson, HP, Wood, JRI, Zhang, LB & van Welzen, PC 2020, 'New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora', Nature, vol. 584, no. 7822, pp. 579-583. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5

@article{bfad834e2a1c4dae9b7d0b78a2f284f1,

title = "New Guinea has the world{\textquoteright}s richest island flora",

abstract = "New Guinea is the world{\textquoteright}s largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries1,2. Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet3 and to intact ecological gradients—from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands—that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region4,5, it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural diversity6,7. So far, however, there has been no attempt to critically catalogue the entire vascular plant diversity of New Guinea. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, expert-verified checklist of the vascular plants of mainland New Guinea and surrounding islands. Our publicly available checklist includes 13,634 species (68% endemic), 1,742 genera and 264 families—suggesting that New Guinea is the most floristically diverse island in the world. Expert knowledge is essential for building checklists in the digital era: reliance on online taxonomic resources alone would have inflated species counts by 22%. Species discovery shows no sign of levelling off, and we discuss steps to accelerate botanical research in the {\textquoteleft}Last Unknown{\textquoteright}8.",

author = "Rodrigo C{\'a}mara-Leret and Frodin, {David G.} and Frits Adema and Christiane Anderson and Appelhans, {Marc S.} and George Argent and {Arias Guerrero}, Susana and Peter Ashton and Baker, {William J.} and Barfod, {Anders S.} and David Barrington and Renata Borosova and Bramley, {Gemma L.C.} and Marie Briggs and Sven Buerki and Daniel Cahen and Callmander, {Martin W.} and Martin Cheek and Chen, {Cheng Wei} and Conn, {Barry J.} and Coode, {Mark J.E.} and Iain Darbyshire and Sally Dawson and John Dransfield and Clare Drinkell and Brigitta Duyfjes and Atsushi Ebihara and Zacky Ezedin and Fu, {Long Fei} and Osia Gideon and Deden Girmansyah and Rafa{\"e}l Govaerts and Helen Fortune-Hopkins and Gustavo Hassemer and Alistair Hay and Heatubun, {Charlie D.} and Hind, {D. J.Nicholas} and Peter Hoch and Peter Homot and Peter Hovenkamp and Mark Hughes and Matthew Jebb and Laura Jennings and Tiberius Jimbo and Michael Kessler and Ruth Kiew and Sandra Knapp and Penniel Lamei and Marcus Lehnert and Lewis, {Gwilym P.} and Linder, {Hans Peter} and Stuart Lindsay and Low, {Yee Wen} and Eve Lucas and Mancera, {Jeffrey P.} and Monro, {Alexandre K.} and Alison Moore and Middleton, {David J.} and Hidetoshi Nagamasu and Newman, {Mark F.} and {Nic Lughadha}, Eimear and Melo, {Pablo H.A.} and Ohlsen, {Daniel J.} and Pannell, {Caroline M.} and Barbara Parris and Laura Pearce and Penneys, {Darin S.} and Perrie, {Leon R.} and Peter Petoe and Poulsen, {Axel Dalberg} and Prance, {Ghillean T.} and Quakenbush, {J. Peter} and Niels Raes and Michele Rodda and Rogers, {Zachary S.} and Andr{\'e} Schuiteman and Pedro Schwartsburd and Scotland, {Robert W.} and Simmons, {Mark P.} and Simpson, {David A.} and Peter Stevens and Michael Sundue and Weston Testo and Anna Trias-Blasi and Ian Turner and Timothy Utteridge and Lesley Walsingham and Webber, {Bruce L.} and Ran Wei and Weiblen, {George D.} and Maximilian Weigend and Peter Weston and {de Wilde}, Willem and Peter Wilkie and Wilmot-Dear, {Christine M.} and Wilson, {Hannah P.} and Wood, {John R.I.} and Zhang, {Li Bing} and {van Welzen}, {Peter C.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2020",

month = aug,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "584",

pages = "579--583",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "7822",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora

AU - Cámara-Leret, Rodrigo

AU - Frodin, David G.

AU - Adema, Frits

AU - Anderson, Christiane

AU - Appelhans, Marc S.

AU - Argent, George

AU - Arias Guerrero, Susana

AU - Ashton, Peter

AU - Baker, William J.

AU - Barfod, Anders S.

AU - Barrington, David

AU - Borosova, Renata

AU - Bramley, Gemma L.C.

AU - Briggs, Marie

AU - Buerki, Sven

AU - Cahen, Daniel

AU - Callmander, Martin W.

AU - Cheek, Martin

AU - Chen, Cheng Wei

AU - Conn, Barry J.

AU - Coode, Mark J.E.

AU - Darbyshire, Iain

AU - Dawson, Sally

AU - Dransfield, John

AU - Drinkell, Clare

AU - Duyfjes, Brigitta

AU - Ebihara, Atsushi

AU - Ezedin, Zacky

AU - Fu, Long Fei

AU - Gideon, Osia

AU - Girmansyah, Deden

AU - Govaerts, Rafaël

AU - Fortune-Hopkins, Helen

AU - Hassemer, Gustavo

AU - Hay, Alistair

AU - Heatubun, Charlie D.

AU - Hind, D. J.Nicholas

AU - Hoch, Peter

AU - Homot, Peter

AU - Hovenkamp, Peter

AU - Hughes, Mark

AU - Jebb, Matthew

AU - Jennings, Laura

AU - Jimbo, Tiberius

AU - Kessler, Michael

AU - Kiew, Ruth

AU - Knapp, Sandra

AU - Lamei, Penniel

AU - Lehnert, Marcus

AU - Lewis, Gwilym P.

AU - Linder, Hans Peter

AU - Lindsay, Stuart

AU - Low, Yee Wen

AU - Lucas, Eve

AU - Mancera, Jeffrey P.

AU - Monro, Alexandre K.

AU - Moore, Alison

AU - Middleton, David J.

AU - Nagamasu, Hidetoshi

AU - Newman, Mark F.

AU - Nic Lughadha, Eimear

AU - Melo, Pablo H.A.

AU - Ohlsen, Daniel J.

AU - Pannell, Caroline M.

AU - Parris, Barbara

AU - Pearce, Laura

AU - Penneys, Darin S.

AU - Perrie, Leon R.

AU - Petoe, Peter

AU - Poulsen, Axel Dalberg

AU - Prance, Ghillean T.

AU - Quakenbush, J. Peter

AU - Raes, Niels

AU - Rodda, Michele

AU - Rogers, Zachary S.

AU - Schuiteman, André

AU - Schwartsburd, Pedro

AU - Scotland, Robert W.

AU - Simmons, Mark P.

AU - Simpson, David A.

AU - Stevens, Peter

AU - Sundue, Michael

AU - Testo, Weston

AU - Trias-Blasi, Anna

AU - Turner, Ian

AU - Utteridge, Timothy

AU - Walsingham, Lesley

AU - Webber, Bruce L.

AU - Wei, Ran

AU - Weiblen, George D.

AU - Weigend, Maximilian

AU - Weston, Peter

AU - de Wilde, Willem

AU - Wilkie, Peter

AU - Wilmot-Dear, Christine M.

AU - Wilson, Hannah P.

AU - Wood, John R.I.

AU - Zhang, Li Bing

AU - van Welzen, Peter C.

PY - 2020/8/27

Y1 - 2020/8/27

N2 - New Guinea is the world’s largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries1,2. Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet3 and to intact ecological gradients—from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands—that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region4,5, it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural diversity6,7. So far, however, there has been no attempt to critically catalogue the entire vascular plant diversity of New Guinea. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, expert-verified checklist of the vascular plants of mainland New Guinea and surrounding islands. Our publicly available checklist includes 13,634 species (68% endemic), 1,742 genera and 264 families—suggesting that New Guinea is the most floristically diverse island in the world. Expert knowledge is essential for building checklists in the digital era: reliance on online taxonomic resources alone would have inflated species counts by 22%. Species discovery shows no sign of levelling off, and we discuss steps to accelerate botanical research in the ‘Last Unknown’8.

AB - New Guinea is the world’s largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries1,2. Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet3 and to intact ecological gradients—from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands—that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region4,5, it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural diversity6,7. So far, however, there has been no attempt to critically catalogue the entire vascular plant diversity of New Guinea. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, expert-verified checklist of the vascular plants of mainland New Guinea and surrounding islands. Our publicly available checklist includes 13,634 species (68% endemic), 1,742 genera and 264 families—suggesting that New Guinea is the most floristically diverse island in the world. Expert knowledge is essential for building checklists in the digital era: reliance on online taxonomic resources alone would have inflated species counts by 22%. Species discovery shows no sign of levelling off, and we discuss steps to accelerate botanical research in the ‘Last Unknown’8.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089022059&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85089022059&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5

DO - 10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5

M3 - Article

C2 - 32760001

AN - SCOPUS:85089022059

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 584

SP - 579

EP - 583

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7822

ER -

New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Access

OpenUrl availability

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this