Lists of organisms by population

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{{Further|Earliest known life forms}}

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File:Storni 1000128.JPG of common starlings. This species numbers over 310 million: at least as many individuals as the United States has humans.{{cite web | url = http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/106006815/0 | title = Sturnus vulgaris | access-date = 2012-12-22 | author = BirdLife International | author-link = BirdLife International | year = 2012 | work = IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2 | publisher = IUCN }}{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/populddadaedsdasddwdaw/www/popclockus.html|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|title=U.S. POPClock Projection}}]]

{{Mammals by population sidebar}}

This is a collection of lists of organisms by their population. While most of the numbers are estimates, they have been made by the experts in their fields. Species population is a science falling under the purview of population ecology and biogeography. Individuals are counted by census, as carried out for the piping plover;{{cite web | url = http://fresc.usgs.gov/research/StudyDetail.asp?Study_ID=786 | title = 2011 International Piping Plover Census: Study Description | access-date = 2012-12-24 | author = Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center | publisher = United States Geological Survey}}{{cite web | url = http://www.environment.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=73d2c0ca-c031-4ca5-81f4-5b5b9a2f3dc8 | title = Positive Piping Plover Count | access-date = 2012-12-24 | date = 6 Nov 2006 | publisher = Government of Saskatchewan | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130506183411/http://www.environment.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=73d2c0ca-c031-4ca5-81f4-5b5b9a2f3dc8 | archive-date = 2013-05-06 }} using the transect method, as done for the mountain plover;{{cite web | url = http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/field-offices/newcastle/wildlife/docs.Par.53483.File.dat/SurveyProtocols.pdf | title = Mountain plover survey guidelines — Wyoming | access-date = 2012-12-24 | date = March 2002 | publisher = United States Fish and Wildlife Service | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130602134349/http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/field-offices/newcastle/wildlife/docs.Par.53483.File.dat/SurveyProtocols.pdf | archive-date = 2013-06-02 }} and beginning in 2012 by satellite, with the emperor penguin being first subject counted in this manner.{{cite news | first = Christine | last = Dell'Amore | title = Emperor Penguins Counted From Space—A First | date = 13 April 2012 | publisher = National Geographic | url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120413-emperor-penguins-survey-antarctica-animals-space-science/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120415072425/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120413-emperor-penguins-survey-antarctica-animals-space-science/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 15, 2012 | work = National Geographic News | access-date = 2012-12-22}}

Number of species

More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species,{{cite book |editor1=Kunin, W.E. |editor2=Gaston, Kevin |title=The Biology of Rarity: Causes and consequences of rare—common differences

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LHnCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|date=31 December 1996 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0412633805 |access-date=26 May 2015 }} that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct.{{cite book |last1=Stearns |first1=Beverly Peterson |last2=Stearns |first2=S. C. |last3=Stearns |first3=Stephen C. |title=Watching, from the Edge of Extinction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BHeC-tXIB4C&q=99+percent |year=2000 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-08469-6|page=preface x |access-date=30 May 2017 }}{{cite news |last=Novacek |first=Michael J. |title=Prehistory's Brilliant Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/opinion/sunday/prehistorys-brilliant-future.html |date=8 November 2014 |work=New York Times |access-date=2014-12-25 }} Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 10 million to 14 million,{{cite book|author1=G. Miller|author2=Scott Spoolman |title=Environmental Science - Biodiversity Is a Crucial Part of the Earth's Natural Capital |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NYEJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA62 |date=2012 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-133-70787-5 |page=62 |access-date=2014-12-27 }} of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described.{{cite journal |last1=Mora |first1=C. |last2=Tittensor |first2=D.P. |last3=Adl |first3=S. |last4=Simpson |first4=A.G. |last5=Worm |first5=B. |title=How many species are there on Earth and in the ocean? |date=23 August 2011 |journal=PLOS Biology |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 |pmid=21886479 |pmc=3160336 |volume=9 |issue=8 |pages=e1001127 |doi-access=free }} According to another study, the number of described species has been estimated at 1,899,587.{{cite web | url = http://timgostony.com/iisetemp/RetroSOS__FINAL.pdf | title = State of observed species: A decade of species discovery in review | access-date = 2013-01-02 | author = Pennak, Sara | display-authors = etal | date = 18 January 2012 | publisher = International Institute for Species Exploration; Arizona State University | url-status = dead | archive-url = http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121031181854/http%3A//timgostony.com/iisetemp/RetroSOS__FINAL.pdf | archive-date = 31 October 2012 }} 2000–2009 saw approximately 17,000 species described per year. The total number of undescribed organisms is unknown, but marine microbial species alone could number 20,000,000. For this reason, the number of quantified species will always lag behind the number of described species, and species contained in these lists tend to be on the K side of the r/K selection continuum. More recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described.{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Researchers find that Earth may be home to 1 trillion species |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=138446 |date=2 May 2016 |work=National Science Foundation |access-date=6 May 2016 }} The total number of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 1037 and weighs 50 billion tonnes.{{cite news |last=Nuwer |first=Rachel |author-link=Rachel Nuwer |date=18 July 2015 |title=Counting All the DNA on Earth |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/counting-all-the-dna-on-earth.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=2015-07-18}} In comparison, the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC (trillion [million million] tonnes of carbon).{{cite web |url=http://www.agci.org/classroom/biosphere/index.php |title=The Biosphere: Diversity of Life |author= |work=Aspen Global Change Institute |location=Basalt, CO |access-date=2015-07-19 |archive-date=2014-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110164609/http://www.agci.org/classroom/biosphere/index.php |url-status=dead }} In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the Last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all organisms living on Earth.{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Wade |title=Meet Luca, the Ancestor of All Living Things |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/science/last-universal-ancestor.html |date=25 July 2016 |work=New York Times |access-date=25 July 2016 }}

By domain

The domain of eukaryotes represent a small minority of the number of organisms; however, due to their generally much larger size, their collective global biomass is estimated to be about equal to that of prokaryotes.{{cite journal | vauthors = Whitman WB, Coleman DC, Wiebe WJ | title = Prokaryotes: the unseen majority | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 95 | issue = 12 | pages = 6578–6583 | date = June 1998 | pmid = 9618454 | pmc = 33863 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.95.12.6578 | url = http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/95/12/6578.pdf | bibcode = 1998PNAS...95.6578W | access-date = 16 September 2011 | archive-date = 20 August 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080820171651/http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/95/12/6578.pdf | url-status = live | doi-access = free }} Prokaryotes number about 4–6 × 1030 cells and 350–550 Pg of C.{{cite journal | last1=Whitman | first1=William B. | last2=Coleman | first2=David C. | last3=Wiebe | first3=William J. | title=Prokaryotes: The unseen majority | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=95 | issue=12 | date=1998-06-09 | issn=0027-8424 | doi=10.1073/pnas.95.12.6578 | pages=6578–6583| pmid=9618454 | pmc=33863 | bibcode=1998PNAS...95.6578W | doi-access=free }}

Microbes

It is estimated that the most numerous bacteria are of a species of the Pelagibacterales (or SAR11) clade, perhaps Pelagibacter ubique, and the most numerous viruses are bacteriophages infecting these species.{{cite journal |author=Erin M. Eggleston |author2=Ian Hewson |author-link2=Ian Hewson |date=2016 |title=Abundance of Two Pelagibacter ubique Bacteriophage Genotypes along a Latitudinal Transect in the North and South Atlantic Oceans |journal=Frontiers in Microbiology |volume=7 |page=1534 |doi=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01534 |pmc=5039313 |pmid=27733846 |doi-access=free}} It is estimated that the oceans contain about 2.4 × 1028 (24 octillion) SAR11 cells.{{cite web|url=http://schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2015/02/the-most-abundant-small-things-considered.html|author=Merry Youle|author2=Gemma Reguera|name-list-style=amp|title=The Most Abundant Small Things Considered|date=February 22, 2015}}

The Deep Carbon Observatory has been exploring living forms in the interior of the Earth. "Life in deep Earth totals 15 to 23 billion tons of carbon".{{Cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2018-12-life-deep-earth-totals-billion.html |title=Life in deep Earth totals 15 to 23 billion tons of carbon—hundreds of times more than humans |website=phys.org |language=en-us |access-date=2018-12-30}}

Animalia

{{Expand section|date=December 2014}}

File:Terrestrial biomass.svg

=Vertebrates=

==Mammals (Mammalia)==

==Birds (Aves)==

==Reptiles (Reptilia)==

class="wikitable"
Animal

! Population

! Notes

Chinese alligator100–200[http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=1052&catid=10&subcatid=68 Alligators, River Dolphins, Giant Salamanders In China - China | Facts And Details] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123014229/http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=1052&catid=10&subcatid=68 |date=2010-11-23 }}Only in the wild. Chinese alligators are quite prolific in captivity, with estimates of the total captive population at over 10,000 animals, mostly in the Anhui Research Centre of Chinese Alligator Reproduction and the Madras Crocodile Bank.
Komodo dragon4,000–5,000Their populations are restricted to the islands of Gili Motang (100), Gili Dasami (100), Rinca (1,300), Komodo (1,700), and Flores (perhaps 2,000).{{cite book |author1=Trooper Walsh |author2=Murphy, James Jerome |author3=Claudio Ciofi |author4=Colomba De LA Panouse |title=Komodo Dragons: Biology and Conservation (Zoo and Aquarium Biology and Conservation Series) |publisher=Smithsonian Books|location=Washington, D.C.|year=2002|isbn=1-58834-073-2}} However, there are concerns that there may presently be only 350 breeding females.{{cite web|publisher=American Museum of Natural History |url=http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/ora/ora.html |title=Ora (Komodo Island Monitor or Komodo Dragon) |access-date=2007-01-15 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307164050/http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/ora/ora.html |archive-date=March 7, 2010 }}

=Hexapoda=

==Insects (Insecta)==

Recent figures indicate that there are more than 1.4 billion insects for each human on the planet,{{cite web |last=Worrall |first=Simon |title=Without Bugs, We Might All Be Dead |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/08/insect-bug-medicine-food-macneal/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806113211/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/08/insect-bug-medicine-food-macneal/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 6, 2017 |date=6 August 2017 |work=National Geographic Society |access-date=27 May 2018 }} or roughly 1019 (10 quintillion) individual living insects on the earth at any given time.{{cite web| title="Numbers of Insects - Species and individuals" | url=https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/bugnos | work=Smithsonian Institution | access-date=23 Nov 2022}} An article in The New York Times claimed that the world holds 300 pounds of insects for every pound of humans. Ants have colonised almost every landmass on Earth. Their population is estimated as between 1016–1017 (10-100 quadrillion).Embery, Joan and Lucaire, Ed (1983) Collection of Amazing Animal Facts. With an estimated 20 quadrillion ants their biomass comes to 12 megatons of dry carbon, which is more than all wild birds and non-human mammals combined.{{cite web | title=How many ants are on Earth? 20 quadrillion, study says | website=France 24 | date=September 19, 2022 | url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220919-how-many-ants-are-on-earth-20-quadrillion-study-says | access-date=September 19, 2022}}{{cite news | last=Grandoni | first=Dino | title=How many ants are crawling the Earth? Nearly 20 quadrillion, scientists say. | newspaper=Washington Post | date=September 19, 2022 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/19/ants-population-20-quadrillion/ | access-date=September 19, 2022}}{{cite journal| author=Schultheiss P, Nooten SS, Wang R, Wong MKL, Brassard F, Guénard B| title=The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on Earth. | journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | year= 2022 | volume= 119 | issue= 40 | pages= e2201550119 | pmid=36122199 | doi=10.1073/pnas.2201550119 | doi-access=free | pmc=9546634 | bibcode=2022PNAS..11901550S }}

Plantae

= Trees =

According to NASA in 2005, there were over 400 billion trees on our globe.{{cite web|url=http://h.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96758439|title=Going Out On A Limb With A Tree-Person Ratio : Krulwich Wonders... : NPR}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} However, more recently, in 2015, using better methods, the global tree count has been estimated at 3 trillion.{{cite journal |last=Ehrenberg |first=Rachel |title=Global count reaches 3 trillion trees - Approach combines ground-based surveys with satellite imaging to find higher density than anticipated. |url=http://www.nature.com/news/global-count-reaches-3-trillion-trees-1.18287 |date=2 September 2015 |journal=Nature |doi=10.1038/nature.2015.18287 |s2cid=189415504 |access-date=28 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }} Other studies show that the Amazonian forest alone yields approximately 430 billion trees.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pnas.org/content/105/suppl.1/11498.full |title=How many tree species are there in the Amazon and how many of them will go extinct? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326094239/http://www.pnas.org/content/105/suppl.1/11498.full |archive-date=26 March 2012}} Extrapolations from data compiled over a period of 10 years suggest that greater Amazonia, which includes the Amazon Basin and the Guiana Shield, harbors around 390 billion individual trees.{{cite web|url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/fm-fms101413.php|title=Field Museum scientists estimate 16,000 tree species in the Amazon|website=EurekAlert!}}

See also

References

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Category:Lists of biota