A recent research has revealed that more than 60,000 species of trees are available globally. The BCGI (Botanical Gardens Conservation International) has compiled the list of trees on the basis of data gathered from its network of 500 member organizations.
According to BBC, the list might be used in order to identify and protect endangered species of trees. The study says that Brazil is the proud possessor of the largest number of tree species, 8,175 varieties in total. On the other hand, apart from the Polar Regions, which has an unsuitable weather for tree growth, the region of North America near to the Arctic Circle has the fewest number of tree species, amounting to less than 1,400 in total.
The other data that concerns the environmentalists is the presence of more than half of the species (58%) in a particular region. It suggests that the species might succumb to threats like climate change, deforestation, and wildfire. Almost 300 species, with less than 50 trees left in the wild from each one, are classified as endangered by the researchers.
According to National Public Radio, the researchers are hoping that this data dubbed GlobalTreeSearch will help the conservationists to take actions according to individual species of trees to save them from extinction. The research seems to be the first of its kind, with the efforts of thousand of botanists who gathered the data over a period of centuries. The availability of digital checklists and databases over the past few decades have also helped in refining the research in a proper way.
The researchers claim to have collected information over a period of two years from sources including over 500 published contents and 80 experts in the BCGI's network. The data will be kept updated with the discovery of new species or the extinction of some, said the researchers.
All the data required for the world's trees is now available in one database, thanks to GlobalTreesearch. The results of the research were published in the Journal for Sustainable Forestry.
