FIGURE 1 in The Encyclopedia of Life vs. the Brochure of Life: Exploring the relationships between the extinction of species and the inventory of life on Earth

FIGURE 1. Total number of species described after 25 years, expressed as a percentage of the remaining total number of species (y axis), for different rates of discovery of new species (x axis; current values, 1 = 10,000 species/year). Three estimates of the total number of species living in year 2000 are considered: a very low estimate, 3 million (white rectangles), a middle estimate, 10 million (grey rectangles) and a high estimate, 100 million (black rectangles); in all cases, the number of species described up to year 2000 is estimated to be 1.5 million. Only if total biodiversity is very low and rates of discovery are 10 times current values (or higher), can the Encyclopedia of Life be totally accomplished in 25 years (% Described = 100; note the exclamation symbols, '!').