New Guinea emerges as the new floral paradise: University of Zurich lists 14,000 species

While it is known to be a bird-watcher's paradise, New Guinea is now botanist's paradise as well. Numerous studies have concluded that it is one of the most floristically diverse islands in the world. A study conducted by the University of Zurich found that New Guinea has nearly 14,000 different species of plants and their press release details the information discovered by them.

'World's Richest Island Flora'

The researchers from the University of Zurich complied information from online catalogs which was then verified by the plant experts. New Guinea is the world's largest tropical island. According to the press release by the University of Zurich, this island features a complex mosaics of ecosystems. New Guinea has been known for its diverse wilderness which has a large number of plant species for a very long time. Since the 17th century, the researchers have been studying, identifying and naming the plants in New Guinea. 

Over the years, various experts on the matter have tried to quantify the flora in the area but the numbers have been a rough estimate which ranges from 9,000 to 25,000 but the exact number could not be identified. In this research conducted by the University of Zurich has 99 scientists from 56 institutes and 19 countries study and verify the exact number of the plant species in the area. All these scientists worked under the lead of Rodrigo Cámara-Leret, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of professor Jordi Bascompte in the UZH Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies. 

“Compared to other areas like Amazonia, for which plant checklists were recently published, New Guinea remained the ‘Last Unknown’,” says Rodrigo Cámara-Leret in a press release by the University of Zurich.

This is the first expert verified checklist of 13,634 vascular plant species that exist in New Guinea and the surrounding islands.

More on New Guinea

New Guinea is the second-largest island in the world. It is popularly known as the bird watchers paradise for the diverse variety of birds in the area. It also has the highest mountains in Oceania. New Guinea is home to a large number of tribal communities and languages.