The Kew’s "World Checklist of Vascular Plants" and its relevance to the knowledge of the flora of Mexico

Abstract

Background: The 8th version of the "World Checklist of Vascular Plants" (WCVP) was recently published under the coordination of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It consists of a list of taxonomic names of species, genera, and families of vascular plants representing the most comprehensive and integrated list available today. Questions: How many accepted species does the WCVP include? Is the quality of the included information acceptable? How has the publication of worldwide species names evolved over time? Does the checklist include the species recorded for Mexico? Studied species: Worldwide species of vascular plants included in the WCVP. Study site: Worldwide and Mexico. Methods: A database was created based on the WCVP to answer the research questions. The number of genera and species by taxonomic status (accepted and synonyms) was quantified, some information quality tests were carried out, and the potential number of undiscovered species in the world was estimated using non-parametric techniques. Results: The WCVP contains 1,233,172 names, of which 418,737 are accepted. It is estimated that around 25 % more unknown species remain to be discovered in the world. The quality of the information contained in the WCVP is quite reliable and complete; only 3 % of Mexican species are not included in the WCVP. Conclusions: The WCVP synthesizes current taxonomic knowledge in an integrated manner and is useful for systematic and automated analyses. At the country level, at least for Mexico, it stands as an important reference source when attempting to understand and evaluate floristic knowledge.