Biodiversity scientist Elizabeth Clare emphasizes the urgency of describing Earth's species, many of which remain unknown. Her research aims to measure biodiversity across Belize by extracting DNA from the environment. This method allows continual monitoring of biodiversity, enabling researchers to track changes over time. Clare acknowledges the looming threats posed by habitat loss and climate change, underscoring the importance of understanding what lives on Earth. The innovative use of ambient DNA demonstrates a promising approach to uncovering hidden biodiversity within ecosystems.
"You can look at a couple square feet of ground here and never possibly describe all the things that are in it," Clare says. "This is the problem of biodiversity."
"We don't know what lives on planet Earth," says Clare. "Most things in the world have never been recognized by science."
Clare emphasizes the urgent need to measure biodiversity on a country-wide scale to monitor changes due to climate change and habitat loss.
Nina Garrett highlights how they are using ambient DNA to measure biodiversity, which allows them to understand more about species that we don't see.
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