Abstract
The Cape Floristic Region—the world’s smallest and third richest botanical hotspot—has benefited from sustained levels of taxonomic effort and exploration for almost three centuries, but how close is this to resulting in a near-complete plant species inventory? We analyse a core component of this flora over a 250-year period for trends in taxonomic effort and species discovery linked to ecological and conservation attributes. We show that >40% of the current total of species was described within the first 100 years of exploration, followed by a continued steady rate of description. We propose that <1% of the flora is still to be described. We document a relatively constant cohort of taxonomists, working over 250 years at what we interpret to be their ‘taxonomic maximum.’ Rates of description of new species were independent of plant growth-form but narrow-range taxa have constituted a significantly greater proportion of species discoveries since 1950. This suggests that the fraction of undiscovered species predominantly comprises localised endemics that are thus of high conservation concern. Our analysis provides important real-world insights for other hotspots in the context of global strategic plans for biodiversity in informing considerations of the likely effort required in attaining set targets of comprehensive plant inventories. In a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss, we argue for a focused research agenda across disciplines to increase the rate of species descriptions in global biodiversity hotspots.
Highlights
Global biodiversity hotspots are species-rich areas of high conservation priority, with significant numbers of rare and undiscovered species facing increasing threats of extinction (Myers et al, 2000; Giam & Scheffers, 2012; Scheffers et al, 2012)
2003), representing groups that are centred in the CFR and contain a disproportionally high number of highly endemic and threatened taxa (Raimondo et al, 2009). This allowed us to search for trends in species discovery and taxonomic activity in the study region, we explored trends linked to abundance, ecology and conservation status
Our study shows that there has been a sustained level of taxonomic interest in the CFR over more than 250 years of active botanical study
Summary
Global biodiversity hotspots are species-rich areas of high conservation priority, with significant numbers of rare and undiscovered species facing increasing threats of extinction (Myers et al, 2000; Giam & Scheffers, 2012; Scheffers et al, 2012). They provide insight into ecological and evolutionary patterns associated with mega-diverse regions & Verboom, 2014) and the taxonomic and conservation efforts necessary to document and manage this biodiversity (Cowling et al, 2003). Real data on the rates of species descriptions from a particular area is a first requirement for assessing the time-span needed for a near-complete bio-inventory
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