Towards an updated number of living species in Australia and the World.

Tina A.R. Gopalan; Matthew M. Lockett; Jaever M. Santos; Annabel Wheeler; Haylee Crawford-Weaver (Australian Biological Resources Study).

A national stocktake of our native species is vital to ensure we can protect and manage our unique biodiversity. Here, we catalogue an updated version of the ‘Number of living species in Australia and the World’. The currently accepted number of Australian species was estimated at 11 million global species and 570,000 Australian species, published in 2009 by Arthur Chapman. With continuous taxonomic output over time, these numbers need updating. Last year alone, 626 new species were recorded in Australia. We update the number of living species by collating information from taxonomists, on-line databases, published literature and more. This comprehensive review places the number of living Australian species in a global context and where possible, calculates the percentage of flora and fauna endemic to Australia. We have found that since the last estimate in 2009, Australia has documented 17 additional mammal species and 20 less bird species. These differences could be attributed to synonymy, reclassification of taxa into sub taxa and species discovery. This important work provides an updated benchmark for future assessments of species numbers to better understand and preserve biodiversity.