More than 2 million fungal species are waiting to be identified around the world, in what scientists call the “new frontier of discovery” for life on Earth, according to a new report.
But researchers also found that the majority of newly discovered plants are endangered and should be listed as endangered by default, and that three-quarters of undescribed species are on the verge of extinction. They warn that they are likely to be at risk.
From the inhabitants of the human microbiome to the largest known terrestrial organisms on Earth, fungi are second only to invertebrates in diversity, found in the air, inside plants and animals, in the soil, and in other places. Exist in the ocean in different shapes and sizes. Researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have published new estimates of fungal diversity, more than 90% of which remain unknown to science, as part of a report on the health of plants and fungi around the world. announced. There are probably about 2.5 million species, of which only 155,000 have been identified to date.
“This is uncharted territory,” says Professor Alexandre Antonelli, RBG Kew Scientific Director. “In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the role of fungi in everything. Fungi sustain our life and vegetation, and are vitally important to all animal species.
“Now we have DNA analysis and we’re opening up frontiers. Exploring outer space is very similar. Fungi are dark matter.”
Scientists’ excitement about this undiscovered world has been tempered by concerns about the threat of extinction facing many newly discovered species. Researchers found that of the vascular plant species identified in 2020, more than 77% already met criteria for endangered species, and 59% of species are likely to meet criteria for endangered species. They found that 24% were likely to meet the criteria for endangered species. Of the 350,000 species of vascular plants known to science, researchers believe that around 100,000 are yet to be identified, and a third of these are at risk of extinction. The RBG Cue report estimates that this is highly likely.
Scientists at Kew insist that all newly described species should be treated as endangered unless shown otherwise.
Researchers around the world are encouraging the public to help with identification efforts, which are being revolutionized by new DNA sequencing technology and can identify hundreds of species from a teaspoon of soil. discovered fungi. In the Netherlands, there is a system that gives the public the opportunity to name new fungi found in soil samples sent to labs.
Approximately 10,200 new fungi species have been officially described since 2020, but scientific advances are expected to allow researchers to identify 50,000 new fungi species per year. This year, Kew researchers announced the discovery of a new parasitic fungus that preys on trapped spiders in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest. This is similar to the zombie ant fungus, which defeats insects and tricks them into leaving their nests and going to areas infested with parasites. spore.
Esther Gaya, a fungi specialist and principal investigator at RBG Q, hopes that identifying more species could lead to advances in medicine, agriculture and engineering, and help understand human disease. He said he is doing so.
“DNA technology has revolutionized the study of fungi, even more than plants and animals. Initially, we were only looking at mushrooms and lichens,” she said. “Well, it’s the gut microbiome. We now know that so many human diseases are caused by fungi, or imbalances in fungal communities. Underground fungi connect trees to trees. , forming a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the tree, exchanging nutrients and moisture. You are now inhaling fungal spores.”
The report states that identifying and describing new plant and fungal species is an important challenge for biodiversity science. The researchers highlighted 32 “dark spots” in plant diversity where there are significant knowledge gaps, with Colombia, New Guinea and south-central China being the most deficient.
“The problem is that there are a lot of knowledge gaps. There are a lot of places around the world that still don’t have enough. [plants] Or they collected a very skewed proportion of biodiversity,” Antonelli said. “idea [with darkspots] Most importantly, we identified the areas with the most cost benefits. The biggest reward system for new scientific discoveries. ”