lost, it is irreversible; if climate changes, it is reversible. Natural biodiversity cannot
easily be judged monetarily; it is an indefinite wealth. The global initiative TEEB
(The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity; teebweb.org) is focused on “making nature’s values visible” in economic terms. It helps decision makers to recognize
the wide range of benefits provided by ecosystems and biodiversity. In anthropogenic agro(forestry) systems, biodiversity stabilizes and sustains productivity. In
such cases, via productivity, biodiversity can be better judged monetarily (note
by Beck).
Though we were mainly tackling ecological questions, the problem of extremely
high biodiversity was always present. In both regions (Costa Rica and Ecuador), the
documentation of biodiversity was a necessary part, parallel to all other studies, and
time consuming.
In southern Ecuador, one of the hotspots of biodiversity was investigated by
many individual projects and research units. From this Ecuador group, as mentioned
above, books (Beck et al. 2008; Bendix et al. 2013) and more than 600 papers were
published, covering many aspects of natural and social sciences.
The checklists for various groups of organisms (Liede-Schumann and Breckle
2008) bring together earlier knowledge.
The checklist for spermatophytes has 131 plant families, 425 genera and 1,208
species in the RBSF. The pteridophytes have 250 species; the bryophytes have
320 liverworts, 204 mosses and three hornworts (altogether 527 species); the lichens
list has 323 species, but many specimens are still unidentified. A very special list is
that of the mycorrhizal fungi, where the only way of sure identification is direct
sequencing of the associated fungi. Those ribosomal genotypes can rarely be related
to morphological or biological species. The mammals are very incompletely known,
and only the list of bats, with 35 species, may be rather complete. The birds list has
271 species in the RBSF, but there may well be close to 800, half of the 1,600 in
Ecuador. The list of papilionoid butterflies has 245 species, which is estimated to be
less than 50% of the existing fauna. The moths are extremely rich; 2,547 species
have been recorded in the RBSF and in the close vicinity, including 42 Saturniidae
and 36 Sphingidae. The checklist of Tettigoniidae has about 100 species. One
hundred and ninety-three species from Oribatidae have been recorded, again including several ones new to science, as in other organismic groups. The checklist of
amoebas has 135 species. Finally, also included is a list of useful plants and weeds,
with about 360 plants in the Shuar and other indigenous communities.
It was, at that time, a wonderful experience to bring together so many different
lists of organisms. Though several groups are still lacking, those lists are very
important for future studies. Certainly the inventories may soon be outdated by the
tremendous wealth of biodiversity, guaranteeing new finds for many years to come.
Documenting high plant biodiversity certainly always requires good herbarium
material, but with new sophisticated digital cameras, photographs of plant portraits
can also be used for image-based plant databases (Homeier 2004). With Visual
Plants (http://www.visualplants.de/), one has access to records of digitized plant
images, herbarium specimens and illustrations of plants from Kenya, Uganda, Costa
Rica and Ecuador, and many additional data. This is a helpful tool for the
42
S.-W. Breckle
easily be judged monetarily; it is an indefinite wealth. The global initiative TEEB
(The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity; teebweb.org) is focused on “making nature’s values visible” in economic terms. It helps decision makers to recognize
the wide range of benefits provided by ecosystems and biodiversity. In anthropogenic agro(forestry) systems, biodiversity stabilizes and sustains productivity. In
such cases, via productivity, biodiversity can be better judged monetarily (note
by Beck).
Though we were mainly tackling ecological questions, the problem of extremely
high biodiversity was always present. In both regions (Costa Rica and Ecuador), the
documentation of biodiversity was a necessary part, parallel to all other studies, and
time consuming.
In southern Ecuador, one of the hotspots of biodiversity was investigated by
many individual projects and research units. From this Ecuador group, as mentioned
above, books (Beck et al. 2008; Bendix et al. 2013) and more than 600 papers were
published, covering many aspects of natural and social sciences.
The checklists for various groups of organisms (Liede-Schumann and Breckle
2008) bring together earlier knowledge.
The checklist for spermatophytes has 131 plant families, 425 genera and 1,208
species in the RBSF. The pteridophytes have 250 species; the bryophytes have
320 liverworts, 204 mosses and three hornworts (altogether 527 species); the lichens
list has 323 species, but many specimens are still unidentified. A very special list is
that of the mycorrhizal fungi, where the only way of sure identification is direct
sequencing of the associated fungi. Those ribosomal genotypes can rarely be related
to morphological or biological species. The mammals are very incompletely known,
and only the list of bats, with 35 species, may be rather complete. The birds list has
271 species in the RBSF, but there may well be close to 800, half of the 1,600 in
Ecuador. The list of papilionoid butterflies has 245 species, which is estimated to be
less than 50% of the existing fauna. The moths are extremely rich; 2,547 species
have been recorded in the RBSF and in the close vicinity, including 42 Saturniidae
and 36 Sphingidae. The checklist of Tettigoniidae has about 100 species. One
hundred and ninety-three species from Oribatidae have been recorded, again including several ones new to science, as in other organismic groups. The checklist of
amoebas has 135 species. Finally, also included is a list of useful plants and weeds,
with about 360 plants in the Shuar and other indigenous communities.
It was, at that time, a wonderful experience to bring together so many different
lists of organisms. Though several groups are still lacking, those lists are very
important for future studies. Certainly the inventories may soon be outdated by the
tremendous wealth of biodiversity, guaranteeing new finds for many years to come.
Documenting high plant biodiversity certainly always requires good herbarium
material, but with new sophisticated digital cameras, photographs of plant portraits
can also be used for image-based plant databases (Homeier 2004). With Visual
Plants (http://www.visualplants.de/), one has access to records of digitized plant
images, herbarium specimens and illustrations of plants from Kenya, Uganda, Costa
Rica and Ecuador, and many additional data. This is a helpful tool for the
42
S.-W. Breckle