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X Demographics
Mendeley readers
Attention Score in Context
| Title |
Can We Name Earth's Species Before They Go Extinct?
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Science, January 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1126/science.1230318 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Mark J. Costello, Robert M. May, Nigel E. Stork |
| Abstract |
Some people despair that most species will go extinct before they are discovered. However, such worries result from overestimates of how many species may exist, beliefs that the expertise to describe species is decreasing, and alarmist estimates of extinction rates. We argue that the number of species on Earth today is 5 ± 3 million, of which 1.5 million are named. New databases show that there are more taxonomists describing species than ever before, and their number is increasing faster than the rate of species description. Conservation efforts and species survival in secondary habitats are at least delaying extinctions. Extinction rates are, however, poorly quantified, ranging from 0.01 to 1% (at most 5%) per decade. We propose practical actions to improve taxonomic productivity and associated understanding and conservation of biodiversity. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 78 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 11 | 14% |
| United Kingdom | 5 | 6% |
| Canada | 5 | 6% |
| Japan | 3 | 4% |
| Spain | 3 | 4% |
| France | 3 | 4% |
| Sweden | 3 | 4% |
| Australia | 2 | 3% |
| Italy | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 13 | 17% |
| Unknown | 28 | 36% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 54 | 69% |
| Scientists | 19 | 24% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 4 | 5% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 1,234 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 32 | 3% |
| United States | 20 | 2% |
| United Kingdom | 12 | <1% |
| Spain | 10 | <1% |
| Germany | 9 | <1% |
| France | 4 | <1% |
| Mexico | 3 | <1% |
| South Africa | 3 | <1% |
| Chile | 2 | <1% |
| Other | 30 | 2% |
| Unknown | 1109 | 90% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 245 | 20% |
| Researcher | 239 | 19% |
| Student > Master | 172 | 14% |
| Student > Bachelor | 133 | 11% |
| Professor | 72 | 6% |
| Other | 234 | 19% |
| Unknown | 139 | 11% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 673 | 55% |
| Environmental Science | 224 | 18% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 50 | 4% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 34 | 3% |
| Social Sciences | 13 | 1% |
| Other | 60 | 5% |
| Unknown | 180 | 15% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 514. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 29 April 2024.
All research outputs
#50,601
of 25,810,956 outputs
Outputs from Science
#1,981
of 83,319 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#253
of 290,550 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science
#16
of 726 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,810,956 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 83,319 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 66.1. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 290,550 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 726 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.