E O Wilson at Willamette University II

Here is the scope of our knowledge of living things at present. Scientist have described 1.8 million species of animals, plants or micro-organisms. But these numbers only beg the question. How many species of living things are "out there?" And what, indeed, are they all doing all day? No one knows the answer to the question, however, and the most "educated guesses" are so general that it appears that we are simply amateurs in studying things right in front of us. Scientists estimate there are between 10,000,000 and 100,000,000 species of living things. Quite a range, wouldn't you say? It means that we really have no idea, but that we are probably just getting started in identifying species. In 2000, Wilson suggested that the vast majority of undescribed species on Earth are tropical arthropods, especially Coleoptera (beetles), Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants), and Diptera (flies), but he didn't reiterate that last week. He did, however, list the "cutting edge" discovery areas--fungi, nematode words, viruses, bacteria and prochlorococcus(i). Let me illustrate what he said on each.

1. Fungi. We currently have described 60,000 species of fungi, but there are probably 1.5 million or more species "out there." I think most of them must be in my bathroom. But his point, of course, is that these fungi need to be discovered, described and understood. The future is in fungi.

2. Nematode Worms. Well, if the action isn't in fungi, it probably is in these worms. So plentiful are they that if all the earth's soil was removed, the continents and land masses of the world would look substantially the same because of the dominant presence of these worms in our midst. 4/5 of all living things on the earth are probably nematode worms. Only 16,000 species have been described. Perhaps as many as 1,000,000 more wait to be discovered and identified.

3. Bacteria. These invisible living things, which now have a domain named after them, are probably the living thing which is being discovered most rapidly. The explosion of doctoral programs in microbiology and the promise of this discipline to open up worlds for us that we cannot conceive today is mind-boggling. There were about 6,000 described species of bacteria in 2002; sceintists now estimate there are millions more waiting to be discovered.

Before he took us into the world of viruses and slimes, he paused to tell us that the most abundant life in the ocean, Prochlorococcus, was only discovered 20 years ago! Here is an article which talks about the work of Dr. Sally Chisolm on the subject. The burden of the article is that these Prochlorococcus are the smallest and most numerous photosynthetic organisms known and arguably the most plentiful species on the earth, responsible for more than half the photosynthesis in the seas. Wow. And they just were "discovered" in the late 1980s. Is there any reason to spend the evening watching TV now, rather than learning about the world?

4. and 5. Viruses and Slimes. Let's move more quickly now, since space is limited here. The same story obtains for viruses and slimes. Indeed, viruses are such a vast collection of living things that its "genetic letters" exceed the rest of the genetic letters in all of life combined. The Psalmist might have marveled about the glory of humanity, but when Dr. Wilson spoke, we learned we were made up primarily of bacteria and viruses. There is also a lot of room for research interests in slimes.

Where to Go From Here

Wilson concluded with a barrage of other useful statistics and an acronym. First, the acronym. It describes, in descending order, the threats to continued existence of many species of life: HIPPO:

H--habitat destruction, including climate change;
I--Invasive Species
P--Overpopulation
P--Pollution, on a global scale
O--Overharvesting, that is the wiping out of a species by hunting, fishing, etc.

Though there are significant challeges ahead, Wilson pointed out that if the 34 biological "hot spots" of the world (the places where there is the highest concentration of endangered species) were "covered," then 50% of the endangered species of the world could be saved. The cost to put a cover over these would be about $28 trillion--the gross domestic product of the world for one year. Even though several foundations have "lined up" to help out, there would have to be a concerted effort to make this happen.

In the meantime, Wilson and many other scholars are now collaborating on the visionary "encyclopedia of life" online resource. The project was only launched four months ago, but the desire is to publish searchable, "clickable" data on all the species sicentists have discovered for free to anyone with an internet connection and computer--within a decade.

Conclusion

E. O. Wilson is not a religious man. Yet he mentioned his desire to cooperate with religious people who will join him in the effort to describe and, even more, to preserve the species of the earth. As I was listening to him, however, a different "religious picture" or religious image coursed through my mind. I quickly thought back to Paul's words about the human body and the "Body of Christ" in I Cor. 12. His point there is that no member of the body can say to any other member that it is unnecessary; every part plays a role in the symphony of life. One verse in Paul's description had always intrigued me:

"22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect.."

The so-called "lowly" members are to be regarded with greater honor; the "weaker" are indispensable for the living of life. If Paul were alive today, he could say the same with conviction. Indeed, with slime and viruses and bacteria and fungi galore at the center of Dr. Wilson's talk, you would think that all that was left in the world were the "less honorable" parts. But that is what will, when more fully described, probably hold the key to unsolved mysteries today--about health, the environment, personality issues, and so many other areas we can barely even articulate today.

One person said about 20 years ago, in describing a speech of the then-President of the World Bank A.W. Clausen, that the world always seemed a duller place after he had given a speech. After hearing Dr. Wilson last Thursday night, however, the world seems to be pullulating with life and inviting possibilities. I hope that is the way you see it, too.

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