New Guinea has more known plant species than any island in the world
To find the island with the most known plant species in the world, head to New Guinea. Not only is New Guinea home to feathered marvels like birds of paradise and cassowaries, the island is also brimming with foliage. Now the first verified count of the flora growing there reveals that New Guinea hosts more than 13,600 vascular plant species — plants like trees and shrubs that have specialized tissue to transport nutrients. That new inventory shows that New Guinea, which includes Papua New Guinea and Indonesian New Guinea, has the highest known plant diversity of any island on Earth, researchers report August 5 in Nature. The survey documented 19 percent more plant species than have been recorded in Madagascar and 22 percent more than Borneo — regions that also rank among the most biodiverse on Earth. The new accounting could help experts preserve the region’s stunning biodiversity (SN: 9/26/19), the researchers...