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Comment
. 2011 Aug;9(8):e1001130.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001130. Epub 2011 Aug 23.

Why worry about how many species and their loss?

Robert M May  1
Affiliations
Comment

Why worry about how many species and their loss?

Robert M May. PLoS Biol. 2011 Aug.

Abstract

We are astonishingly ignorant about how many species are alive on earth today, and even more ignorant about how many we can lose yet still maintain ecosystem services that humanity ultimately depends upon. Mora et al.'s paper is important in offering an imaginative new approach to assessing total species numbers, both on land and in the sea.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

Comment on

References

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