I think the comic is about types of published articles with the 3rd being "we collated and collected a bunch of data to make this database that other researchers will find useful"-type papers. So you don't need to rely on the map of every tree if you just map some trees yourself.
nah biology discoveries are always like "we thought this lesser spotted derpy pig didn't have big enough spots. turns out it's a new species" or "this protein turns out to be less curly and more squiggly when the fruit flies are having a lot of sex"
"Had to hand-lower it in to prevent splashback. WorkSafe you know"