How Many Species? A Study Says 8.7 Million, but It’s Tricky
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/science/30species.html?_r=1&ref=biologyandbiochemistry
Review by Lucas Berger
This article talks about paper that recently came out that presents a new method for determining how many species there are on earth. A team of ecologists led by Dr. Mora from the University of Hawaii created this new method, which has come up with an estimate of 8.7 million species, give or take 1.3 million either direction. To come up with this number Mora and his team studied the rate at which scientists have discovered different species in some of the well know families, such as mammals. Through their studies the scientists found that over time the rate of discovery decreases, until a certain point where all animals have been discovered. At this point it is assumed that we know most of the worlds mammals. We do not ,however, have a very good understanding of how many insect, fish, or plants there are. Using the discovery pattern of mammals and other known families the scientists created models that predict how many more species of other families will also be discovered. The final number was 7.7 million animals, and 300,000 plants. This prediction, however, is far from an accepted truth. Over the past few centuries many people have estimated how many species there are in the world. Estimates have ranged from the hundred thousands all the way up to one hundred million.
This new estimate of the number of species in the world is quite interesting. It is hard to imagine the vast number of living organism that exists across the earth, but 8.7 million seems like a fair number. The impact this estimate will have on people’s lives is not particularly significant. As previously stated there have been many attempts to estimate the number of species in the world. Scientists have never been able to agree on one number, and even if they did it would be impossible to prove. Instead these estimates simply provide a better understanding of our surroundings.
I found this article to be quite interesting. I think the author did a good job telling the reader what the new estimate was, and what the number really means. I think the author also did a good job of telling the reader the history behind species estimates. I did not like, however, the way the author described the significant of the new estimate. At first he made it seem like an important discovery, but later said it was unimportant.
I thought Lucas did a good job summarizing the article “How Many Species? A Study Says 8.7 Million, but It’s Tricky.” I thought Lucas did a good job explaining the contents of the article. This summary was enhanced by his inclusion of key statistics and numbers that made the argument more tangible. I also thought Lucas did a good job in pointing out the author’s flaws, for I too was confused whether the original author thought this discovery was important or not.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there were a few areas in which I thought Lucas could have improved his argument. The first of which were a series of grammatical errors that I thought distracted from the quality of the review and made it more difficult to understand, as well as less professional. Secondly, I disagreed with Lucas’s comment about the significance of this study. Lucas claimed that “these estimates simply provide a better understanding of our surroundings.” I disagreed with this statement. I felt that the findings of the article were altogether unimportant. At best, this study is a hypothesis that cannot be tested or proved. Although it is an educated guess, no new answers or information has been provided.
Although I felt this study changed little for myself or for mankind, the gist of the article that we really don’t know how many species are out there struck me as important. Despite the new scientific discoveries that are being made every day, there is still so much about the universe that we are not aware of, a broad category that does include different species of plants, insects, and fish. This knowledge emphasizes the importance of science, since there is still so much to be learned about the world we live in.
Lucas accurately summarized the article “How Many Species? A Study Says 8.7 Million, but It’s Tricky.” His thoughts were coherently laid out, and it was obvious he spent some time creating his review. Furthermore, the integration of many of the statistics mentioned in the article added a nice touch to his overview. Not only did they help his writing flow, but also they proved to be an important aspect that helped readers better understand the contents of the article. Similar to the statistics, stating by which methods researchers came to these conclusions was advantageous. It undoubtedly enhanced the reader’s full comprehension of the original piece.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Lucas’s review was very good, there were a few flaws that should be addressed to improve his writing. For example, throughout the review there were many small grammatical mistakes. These blemishes could easily be overlooked when Lucas was writing his piece, but if they were corrected the overall reading experience would have been more pleasurable. Moreover, Lucas often repeated words, phrases, and concepts of the articles. If this was corrected the piece would become more fluid, and readers would be less likely to find the reading tedious. However, even with these faults I found his review quite enjoyable.
Overall, it is interesting to learn how scientists predict the amount of species there are on earth. However, it is rather obvious that the conclusions made are rough estimates at best. Further research and perhaps better techniques are needed for more accurate results.