Species 2000 New Zealand: outcomes of the February symposium

In February 2000, New Zealand scientists met in Wellington for Species 2000 New Zealand, a symposium on the state of New Zealand's biodiverisity. The symposium was part of a series of events that will result in a formal publication, listing all described taxa, both living and extinct, along with an estimation of the remaining undescribed species of each group. The impetus for the symposium was a growing concern about the present incomplete knowledge of our biota, and an acceptance of New Zealand's international obligations under both the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity and the 1996 Global Taxonomy Initiative. Estimates suggest that there are approximately 80,000 eukaryote species in New Zealand's marine, freshwater, and land environments, of which about 40% are known. Knowledge of the prokaryotes is incomplete. Although eukaryotic microorganisms, nematodes and small arthropods comprise the great bulk of the almost 50,000 unknown species, significant numbers of larger organisms, particularly in shelf waters, around submarine highs and hydrothermal vents, are awaiting formal description.