Wilson Stresses Need For Species Survey

Because more lifeforms than ever before are threatened by extinction, scientists should conduct the first-ever worldwide survey of various species, Baird Professor of Science Edward O. Wilson said in a Science Center speech last night.

As part of a series of science lectures for non-specialists, Wilson told the crowd of about 200 that extinction is the most pressing environmental concern today, and predicted it would play a much larger foreign policy role in the next few years.

"It takes millions of years to make diversity," said Wilson. "Usually we only hear about three of the four horsemen: toxic waste, ozone depletion and climatic warming due to the Greenhouse Effect. But the fourth horseman--species extinction--unlike the first three is truly irreversible."

A noted evolutionary biology expert, Wilson said that scientists have only identified between 5 and 30 percent of the Earth's species, and said a worldwide survey of species is necessary to better understand just how many species are threatened by extinction.

He also said such a survey would provide a good basis for future research. "It is more important to find all the species than to map the human genome," said Wilson.

Wilson added that the survey would reveal new commercial uses for many endangered forms of vegatation. He said that although rain forests are often destroyed for commercial reasons, preserving flora can be economically advantageous.

"This is the first time in 150 million years that flora is being destroyed to such an extent," Wilson said. "Even with present technology if you know what you are doing, you can get more money by using undisturbed forest than by cutting the forest down for lumber," he said.

Wilson cited the example of the rosy periwinkle, a plant in Madagascar that contains two alkaloids used to cure both Hodgkin's disease and acute childhood lympathic leukemia. The plant is the basis for a $100 million industry.

"There are six species of the plant on Madagascar. Only one has been examined and one other is on the verge of extinction," said Wilson.

He said scientists should use "chemical prospecting" of various species to examine them for useful secondary products. Wilson also looked to the government for help, calling for more grants to fund biological fieldwork. He said that the Senate Council of Environmental Policy is working on a bill that addresses the biological diversity problem.

"There is a relation of man's potential to the environment," said Wilson. "We need a more refined social science geared toward this matter of species diversity. Presently there are only crude ways of quantifying environmentalist concerns."