SCIENCE FOR A BETTER LIFE: DEVELOPING REGIONAL SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMS IN PRIORITY AREAS FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN VOLUME 1 BIODIVERSITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: AN ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, RESEARCH SCOPE, AND PRIORITY AREAS MARY KALIN T. ARROYO • RODOLFO DIRZO • JUAN CARLOS CASTILLAS FRANCISCO CEJAS • CARLOS ALFREDO JOLY SCIENCE FOR A BETTER LIFE: DEVELOPING REGIONAL SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMS IN PRIORITY AREAS FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN VOLUME 1 BIODIVERSITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: AN ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, RESEARCH SCOPE, AND PRIORITY AREAS Mary Kalin T. Arroyo • Rodolfo Dirzo Juan Carlos Castillas • Francisco Cejas Carlos Alfredo Joly ICSU–LAC•CONACYT ICSU - LAC. 2010. Science for a Better Life: Developing Regional Scientific Programs in Priority Areas for Latin America and the Caribbean. Volume 1. Kalin T. Arroyo, M., Dirzo, R., Castillas, J.C., Cejas, F., and Joly, C.A. Biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Assessment of Knowledge, Research Scope and Priority Areas ICSU - LAC / CONACYT, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City, 332 pp. ISBN 978-0-930357-74-0 General coordination: Alice Rangel de Paiva Abreu Editorial coordination: Ana Ezcurra Design: Juan Carlos Burgoa Collaboration: Sandra Frias Cover images: Ana Ezcurra, Stijn Bossink, Itamar Aguiar, and Aleksandar Milosevic Copyright © 2010, ICSU Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ICSU - LAC) Rua Anfilófio de Carvalho, 29 / 1004 Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20030-060, Brazil www.icsu-lac.org Prohibited any commercial reproduction ISBN 978-0-930357-74-0 Printed in Mexico by Offset Rebosán 2 FOREWORD Founded in 1931, the International Council for Science (ICSU) is a non-governmental orga nization that plans and coordinates interdisciplinary research to address major issues of relevance to both science and society. Over the years the geographical breadth of ICSU activities has changed. Increasingly a major emphasis for ICSU has been the development of scientific capacity in developing countries and the integra- tion of these scientists in international research initiatives. The creation of three ICSU Regional Offices, established in Africa, Asia and the Pa- ci fic, and Latin America and the Caribbean also marks a fundamental change in ICSU struc ture, the aim of which is two-fold. First, it should enhance the participation of scien- tists and regional organizations from developing countries in the programs and activities of the ICSU community. Secondly, it will allow ICSU to play a more active role in strength- ening science within the context of regional priorities through scientific collaboration. Especially in regard to Latin America and the Caribbean, this is an important step in bridging the ‘islands of competence’ that exist in every country and that together will be able ato advance significantly the scientific research agenda in the region. The first step towards the establishment of a Regional Office was the appointment in 2006 of the Re gional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, composed of renowned scientists of the region. The Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean was the third to be established and was inaugurated in April 2007. It is hosted by the Brazilian Academy of Sci ences, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology, ICSU, and CONACYT Mexico. From October 2010 it will 3 be hosted by the Mexican Academy of Science, with the support of CONACYT Mexico. Based on the ICSU Strategic Plan 2006-2011, the Regional Committee has select- ed four priority areas to be developed: • Mathematics Education; • Biodiversity: knowledge, preservation and utilization of biodiversity of all countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region, and to ensure that the scientific com- munity of the smaller countries of the region are fully integrated in DIVERSITAS; • Natural Hazards and Disasters: prevention and mitigation of risks especially of hydrometeorologic origin with special attention to the necessary social science research; • Sustainable Energy: assessment of the existing capacities in the LAC region and the social impact of the use and development of new energy resources. Four Scientific Planning Groups were appointed to develop proposals that reviewed the current status of the priority area in the region and to formulate a set of detailed objectives and targeted areas of research to be developed in the next few years. Engaging highly qualified scientists from Latin America and the Caribbean, the Scientific Planning Groups did outstanding work within a restricted time limit. We thank each and every one of the participants for their enthusiasm and dedication. This document is the final report of the Scientific Planning Group in Biodiversity, which is being submitted to the scientific community in the expectation of effectively influencing the development of scientific research in this area in the years to come. Alice Abreu José Antonio de la Peña Director Chair Regional Office Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean for Latin America and the Caribbean 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Biodiversity, world’s natural capital, is the result of millions of years of organic evo- lution tailored by the hand of the environment. It comprises the living component of the Life Supporting System of our planet and is the source of numerous and vital ecosystem services. The loss of biodiversity constitutes a critical problem for human existence to the extent that biodiversity science is amply recognized as a priority area of scientific research in both the developed and developing world. Biodiversity science spans a wide range of basic scientific disciplines ranging from molecular genetics through to systematics, population through to ecosystem ecology and macroecology, as well as integrative research areas such as conser- vation biology, biocultural conservation, impacts of climate change, complex sys- tems, ecological economics and environmental ethics. The aims of this document are to: a] provide a snap-shot assessment of the state of knowledge of biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), so as to situate the region’s biodiversity on the global stage; b] critically assess biodiver- sity research undertaken in the region so as to identify knowledge gaps and needs; c] assess institutional capacity for biodiversity science in the region and identify the main biodiversity research centers; and, d] arrive at a set of priority research themes and identify capacity, infrastructure and other needs for implementing the ICSU-LAC biodiversity science plan. For the purposes of this study, LAC is understood as all nations and dependen- cies in or immediately off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, as well as those in the Caribbean Sea. 5 The first section of the assessment is devoted to setting the context under which LAC´s biodiversity developed. Palaeogeographic evolution of the region over more that 100 Ma precipitated increasing compartmentalization of the LAC region result- ing in a marked increase in biome and habitat diversity throughout the Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary, while the arrival of humans as of 14 500 BP, was paral- leled by intensive cultural diversification and mostly non-intensive land use. Up until pre-Columbian times, the physiographic evolution of the region together with the outstanding cultural diversification of the Amerindians, reflected in hundreds of lan- guages, generally favored the accumulation of biodiversity and related cultural knowledge. A reverse trend was set into motion in post-Columbian time, culminat- ing in today’s large-scale agriculture, plantation forestry and increasing urbaniza- tion. The projected urban population in the year 2050 exceeds the entire popula- tion of LAC today, with loss of traditional knowledge to be expected. The assessment’s second section shows that LAC monopolizes the Planet’s bio- diversity through a detailed overview of: diversity of biogeographical divisions, diversity of ecosystems, diversity of species, diversity of life forms and functional groups, concentration of endemic organisms, agro-biodiversity associated with cultural diversity, Biodiversity Hotspots and Frontier Forests, and diversity of biotic interactions. Some highlights are: six countries of LAC fall into the Megadiverse league; 32% of global biodiversity in vascular plants, summing to an estimated 95 000, for a land area constituting 9.6% of total land area worldwide; in South America: 33% of global biodiversity in birds, 32% of anurans, 25% of mammals and 20% of reptiles; two Vavilovian Centers of Origin of Agriculture and Plant Domestication; seven of the 25 Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation Priority; a recently-discovered Hotspot for bryophytes at the extreme southern end of South America; 22% of global Frontier Forest. Brazil, the largest country in LAC, has an estimated 170-210 thousand described species considering all taxonomic groups, but is believed to have around 1.8 million in total, taking into account microor- ganisms and fungi. 6 BIODIVERSITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Knowledge emerging from molecular phylogenetics, genome sequencing, the study of the ecosystem services of biodiversity, and the exploration of unusual bio- diversity and habitats, is also reviewed, where the South American Andes have recently revealed some of the highest speciation rates in the world. It is concluded that major knowledge lacunae are still evident in many groups of organisms/coun- tries,