GEO Brasil - UNEP

Figure 1-Proportion of taxons of organisms in Brazil with a sufficient number of
specialists and collections in the country for research purposes.
Insufficient
Active specialists
Sufficient
Source: Lewinsohn & Prado - 2000
Partial
Insufficient
Sets of collections
Sufficient
Partial
Insufficient
Partial
Bibliographical collections
Table 3 - Assumed number of known species in B razil as compared to estimates of the total number of
species in B razil and in the world. *
Sufficient
the state of environment in Brazil
Brasil
Mundo
Taxon
Number
of Known
Species
Estimated
total of
Species
Reliability
Interval of
Total Species
Known/unknown
ratio1
Estimated total
of Species
Virus
Bacteria
Protozoa
Fungi
Algae
Plants
Arthropods
Other Invert.
Vertebrates
1,400
3,200
13,000
4,900
47,000
116,500
9,700
6,200
55,000
136,000
27,000
205,000
55,000
52,000
1,214,000
116,000
8,000
(39,000 - 71,000)
(97,000 - 176,000)
(19,000 - 35,000)
(145,000 - 264,000)
(39,000 - 71,000)
(49,000 - 56,000)
(860,000 - 1,568,000)
(82,000 - 150,000)
(7,000 - 9,000)
0.1
400,000
1,000,000
200,000
1,500,000
400,000
320,000
8,900,000
850,000
50,000
202,500 1,870,000
(1,340,000 - 2,400,000)
13,620,000
All amounts are rounded off to thousands, except those in the first column.
1 2 3
The unknown/known species ratio is equal to (total estimated of unknown/known species); Bacteria include cianobacteria (blue algae); Other
4
invertebrates include all invertebrates, except arthropods; Vertebrates include all other chordata.
Situation analysis shown above represents a considerable
challenge to science The total number of institutions and
researchers with existing methods and financial support
cannot solve the problem of lack of knowledge of Brazilian
biodiversity This is also true for knowledge regarding world
biota, whether it is around 13 million species as it is
considered today (Table 3), or more than 100 million, as
considered by some biologists (Heywood 1995)
Finally, data in general are scarce and in difficult to access
sources Thus, it is a priority that a compilation be made of
basic biological information, as well as its publication in
accessible means also to technicians and managers, as for
example the Red Book of Brazilian Endangered Mammals
(Fonseca et al, 1994), and the manuals for the germination
and cultivation of native (São Paulo State Secretariat 2000,
National Council of the Biosphere Reserve 1997)
35