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Science Mysteries: How Many Species Are There?

You might think that after 200 years, the scientists who find, name, and describe Earth's species would be close to finished. But taxonomists, as organized as they may be, have no idea how many species Earth has. Nor can they even provide an educated guess. Although reporting over 16,000 new species every year, taxonomists still cannot predict how many more are undiscovered.

In total, taxonomists have categorized and listed 1.2 million species on Earth. At this point, you would think scientists should be able to use the information they have gathered to make good predictions about how many species an ecosystem can support. This would help them make better predictions about how many species are left to identify. So far, however, the guesses seem to vary so greatly that it seems there is no good theory for making a prediction.

One of the main problems is that most of the places that seem to have a lot of diverse species are in places that are hard to get to. One such place is the ocean, where scientists believe some 80 percent of Earth's creatures are hiding at depths too deep for us to study. In addition, many of the planet's most diverse areas are in remote places with few taxonomists.

1. **Constant Discovery of New Species**: Despite centuries of taxonomic work, scientists are still discovering thousands of new species each year. This continuous discovery suggests that the total number of species on Earth remains unknown and possibly much higher than currently cataloged.

2. **Limited Access to Diverse Areas**: Many of the Earth's most diverse ecosystems, such as the ocean depths and remote regions, are difficult for scientists to access and study. As a result, a significant portion of Earth's biodiversity remains unexplored and undocumented.

3. **Variability in Predictions**: Due to the complexity of ecosystems and the limitations of available data, scientists struggle to make accurate predictions about the total number of species. The lack of a comprehensive theory for estimating species diversity further complicates efforts to determine the total number of species.

Overall, the passage underscores the ongoing mystery surrounding Earth's biodiversity and the challenges scientists face in quantifying the number of species on the planet.