There are nearly two million described species of animal and plant life in the world, with estimates of the total number of species ranging from a few to many multiples of those described. On top of the mammoth zoological task of cataloging all that life, those sheer numbers offer a more profound problem: There is a wealth of life sitting right under our very noses, and every day species go extinct that most of us never even knew about.Enter the Map of Life, a newly-released online tool for tracking and cataloging the world’s biodiversity. Led by Walter Jetz and Robert Guralnick, a pair of biodiversity scientists, the Map of Life project aims to solve a real issue in zoology: techniques for measuring biodiversity in geographic terms — tracking the fluctuating territories of species as populations and habitats decline — is terribly outdated."Imagine if you had the world’s most amazing field guide," Guralnick, who’s based at the University of Colorado Boulder, told Good. "When you go to the national parks or out exploring, you had at your fingertips something that was not just a static book but the world’s most amazing field guide that changed and that you could contribute to."The current, demo-release of the map has a database of 25,000 species, which users can either search for specifically or discover through local searches. For example, I right-clicked on Brooklyn to bring up a list of mammals within a 50-km radius. Did you know that both grey and red foxes can be found within an hours’ drive? Or that there are minks to be found around here?The project is aimed at bringing a level of precision and clarity to biodiversity records that’s never been seen before. Guralnick, speaking to Sarah Laskow at Good, compared current biodiversity maps to where geography was 150 years ago. By combining a number of different sources of data — government studies, university research, individual reports — the Map of Life homes to home in on more accurate calculations of biodiversity, which are key for conservation efforts.It will also prove to be a valuable teaching tool. Poring over the typically-vague maps of species’ ranges in guide books isn’t exactly the most exciting exercise around for school children. But a responsive, feature rich map like Map of Life aspires to be is a perfect way to study and discuss the effects habitat and development have on biodiversity.In a box somewhere at my mom’s house I’ve got a bunch of wildlife field guides that didn’t make it with me on one of my various moves over the years, and I happen to miss them a lot. I know it’s the product of studying zoology, but there’s something utterly satisfying about watching a bird or butterfly cruise past and being able to identify it on the wing. It’s not because it’s a particularly great parlor trick — pointing out the differences between a Wilson’s Phalarope and a Long-billed Curlew doesn’t necessarily impress the opposite sex — but instead it’s because knowing what’s around you is the best reminder that we humans are intrinsically connected to the nature around us.Follow Derek Mead on Twitter: @drderekmead.
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