Ecologists unveil plan for 'barometer of natural life'

[Staff]

Ecologists unveil plan for 'barometer of natural life'
Paper co-authored by E O Wilson calls for thousands of scientists to collect information on 160,000 species deemed representative of life on Earth
* Juliette Jowit
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 April 2010 19.00 BST

Ecologists unveil plan for 'barometer of natural life' | Environment | The Guardian
excerpt from above:

An ambitious project to create a "barometer of life" to track the changing fortunes of the natural world will be set out tomorrow by some of the world's leading ecologists.

The plan is for thousands of scientists to collect information on 160,000 of the world's nearly 2 million known species - from great mammals, fish and birds to obscure insects and fungi - chosen to be representative of life on Earth.

The index would more than triple the scope of what is alreadythe world's biggest scheme...

[Staff]

Scientists call for biodiversity barometer
Conservation International
People need nature to thrive

http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/Scientists-Call-Biodiversity-Barometer-UICN.aspx
excerpt from above:

Gland, Switzerland / Washington, DC - For the first time scientists have put a figure on how much it would cost to learn about the status of millions of species, some of which have yet to be identified. The price tag is US $60 million, according to a team of scientists, including those from IUCN and Conservation International, who presented their case in this week’s Science magazine in an article called “The Barometer of Life.”

“Our knowledge about species and extinction rates remains very poor, and this has negative consequences for our environment and economy,” says Simon Stuart, Chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. “By expanding the current IUCN Red List of Threatened Species to include up to approximately 160,000 well-chosen species, we will have a good barometer for informing decisions globally...

[Staff]

‘World needs a barometer of life’
Written on April 9th, 2010 by Editor
RocketNews

http://www.rocketnews.com/2010/04/world-needs-a-barometer-of-life/
excerpt from above:

The world needs a "barometer of life" to prevent ecosystems and species being lost forever, scientists have warned.

Existing schemes, they said, did not include enough species from groups such as fungi and invertebrates to provide a detailed picture of what is at risk.

Writing in the journal Science, the researchers said the barometer would increase the number of species being assessed from almost 48,000 to 160,000.

The data would help identify areas in need of urgent action, they added.
The article was penned by four leading figures in conservation, including Harvard University’s Edward O Wilson and Simon Stuart, chairman of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC).

"Knowledge about species and extinction rates remain very poor, and species disappear before we know they existed...