New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora

Rodrigo Cámara-Leret (), David G. Frodin, Frits Adema, Christiane Anderson, Marc S. Appelhans, George Argent, Susana Arias Guerrero, Peter Ashton, William J. Baker, Anders S. Barfod, David Barrington, Renata Borosova, Gemma L. C. Bramley, Marie Briggs, Sven Buerki, Daniel Cahen, Martin W. Callmander, Martin Cheek, Cheng-Wei Chen, Barry J. Conn, Mark J. E. Coode, Iain Darbyshire, Sally Dawson, John Dransfield, Clare Drinkell, Brigitta Duyfjes, Atsushi Ebihara, Zacky Ezedin, Long-Fei Fu, Osia Gideon, Deden Girmansyah, Rafaël Govaerts, Helen Fortune-Hopkins, Gustavo Hassemer, Alistair Hay, Charlie D. Heatubun, D. J. Nicholas Hind, Peter Hoch, Peter Homot, Peter Hovenkamp, Mark Hughes, Matthew Jebb, Laura Jennings, Tiberius Jimbo, Michael Kessler, Ruth Kiew, Sandra Knapp, Penniel Lamei, Marcus Lehnert, Gwilym P. Lewis, Hans Peter Linder, Stuart Lindsay, Yee Wen Low, Eve Lucas, Jeffrey P. Mancera, Alexandre K. Monro, Alison Moore, David J. Middleton, Hidetoshi Nagamasu, Mark F. Newman, Eimear Nic Lughadha, Pablo H. A. Melo, Daniel J. Ohlsen, Caroline M. Pannell, Barbara Parris, Laura Pearce, Darin S. Penneys, Leon R. Perrie, Peter Petoe, Axel Dalberg Poulsen, Ghillean T. Prance, J. Peter Quakenbush, Niels Raes, Michele Rodda, Zachary S. Rogers, André Schuiteman, Pedro Schwartsburd, Robert W. Scotland, Mark P. Simmons, David A. Simpson, Peter Stevens, Michael Sundue, Weston Testo, Anna Trias-Blasi, Ian Turner, Timothy Utteridge, Lesley Walsingham, Bruce L. Webber, Ran Wei, George D. Weiblen, Maximilian Weigend, Peter Weston, Willem Wilde, Peter Wilkie, Christine M. Wilmot-Dear, Hannah P. Wilson, John R. I. Wood, Li-Bing Zhang and Peter C. Welzen
Additional contact information
Rodrigo Cámara-Leret: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
David G. Frodin: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Frits Adema: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Christiane Anderson: University of Michigan Herbarium
Marc S. Appelhans: University of Göttingen
George Argent: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Susana Arias Guerrero: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Peter Ashton: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
William J. Baker: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Anders S. Barfod: Aarhus University
David Barrington: University of Vermont
Renata Borosova: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Gemma L. C. Bramley: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Marie Briggs: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Sven Buerki: Boise State University
Daniel Cahen: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Martin W. Callmander: Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève
Martin Cheek: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Cheng-Wei Chen: Independent consultant
Barry J. Conn: The University of Sydney
Mark J. E. Coode: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Iain Darbyshire: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Sally Dawson: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
John Dransfield: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Clare Drinkell: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Brigitta Duyfjes: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Atsushi Ebihara: National Museum of Nature and Science
Zacky Ezedin: University of Minnesota
Long-Fei Fu: Guangxi Institute of Botany, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chinese Academy of Sciences
Osia Gideon: The Papua New Guinea University of Technology
Deden Girmansyah: Herbarium Bogoriense
Rafaël Govaerts: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Helen Fortune-Hopkins: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Gustavo Hassemer: Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul
Alistair Hay: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Charlie D. Heatubun: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
D. J. Nicholas Hind: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Peter Hoch: Missouri Botanical Garden
Peter Homot: Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute
Peter Hovenkamp: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Mark Hughes: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Matthew Jebb: The National Botanic Gardens of Ireland
Laura Jennings: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Tiberius Jimbo: Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute
Michael Kessler: University of Zurich
Ruth Kiew: Forest Research Institute Malaysia
Sandra Knapp: Natural History Museum
Penniel Lamei: Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute
Marcus Lehnert: University of Bonn
Gwilym P. Lewis: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Hans Peter Linder: University of Zurich
Stuart Lindsay: Native Plants Centre, National Parks Board
Yee Wen Low: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Eve Lucas: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Jeffrey P. Mancera: University of the Philippines Manila
Alexandre K. Monro: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Alison Moore: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
David J. Middleton: National Parks Board
Hidetoshi Nagamasu: Kyoto University
Mark F. Newman: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Eimear Nic Lughadha: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Pablo H. A. Melo: São Paulo State University
Daniel J. Ohlsen: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
Caroline M. Pannell: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Barbara Parris: Fern Research Foundation
Laura Pearce: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Darin S. Penneys: University of North Carolina
Leon R. Perrie: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Peter Petoe: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Axel Dalberg Poulsen: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Ghillean T. Prance: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
J. Peter Quakenbush: Western Michigan University
Niels Raes: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Michele Rodda: National Parks Board
Zachary S. Rogers: New Mexico State University
André Schuiteman: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Pedro Schwartsburd: Universidade Federal de Viçosa
Robert W. Scotland: University of Oxford
Mark P. Simmons: Colorado State University
David A. Simpson: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Peter Stevens: Missouri Botanical Garden
Michael Sundue: University of Vermont
Weston Testo: University of Florida
Anna Trias-Blasi: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Ian Turner: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Timothy Utteridge: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Lesley Walsingham: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Bruce L. Webber: CSIRO Land and Water
Ran Wei: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
George D. Weiblen: University of Minnesota
Maximilian Weigend: University of Bonn
Peter Weston: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Willem Wilde: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Peter Wilkie: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Christine M. Wilmot-Dear: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Hannah P. Wilson: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
John R. I. Wood: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Li-Bing Zhang: Missouri Botanical Garden
Peter C. Welzen: Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Nature, 2020, vol. 584, issue 7822, 579-583

Abstract: Abstract New Guinea is the world’s largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries1,2. Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet3 and to intact ecological gradients—from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands—that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region4,5, it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural diversity6,7. So far, however, there has been no attempt to critically catalogue the entire vascular plant diversity of New Guinea. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, expert-verified checklist of the vascular plants of mainland New Guinea and surrounding islands. Our publicly available checklist includes 13,634 species (68% endemic), 1,742 genera and 264 families—suggesting that New Guinea is the most floristically diverse island in the world. Expert knowledge is essential for building checklists in the digital era: reliance on online taxonomic resources alone would have inflated species counts by 22%. Species discovery shows no sign of levelling off, and we discuss steps to accelerate botanical research in the ‘Last Unknown’8.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5

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