Scientists have had the goal of discovering 15,000 species of tress in the Amazon rain forest for 300 years. A new study reports that the explorers have found 11,676 tree species. A team of ecologists have published what they call a list of every known tree species in the amazon from more than 500,000 digitalized samples taken of fruits, leaves, and flowers. The team of scientists gathered thousands of digital records from museums. The oldest same was from 1707 and the latest was from 2015. They compiled the first catalog of tree species in the Amazon.
The catalog is not throughly put together, but the team explains that they wanted it to be tat way so other scientists can contribute their work to it. This is the best way to pull together 300 years worth of research into one simple tool that anyone who is curious about the trees in the Amazon can use.
A bonus to the catalog is that it proves the teams claim that there are in fact almost 16,000 tree species in the Amazon. The other 4,000 species are hiding in a museum or in the Amazon waiting to be discovered as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/science/amazon-tree-species-inventory.html?_r=0
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-300-years-collecting-ecologist-finally-make-list-amazons-12000-trees-180959815/?no-ist
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