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Helping Solve the "Other" Taxonomic Impediment: Completing the Eight Steps to Total Enlightenment and Taxonomic Nirvana
Abstract
Simply put: despite over ten years of recognizing the problem and giving it a catchy phrase, we still lack the taxonomic expertise to effectively describe the remaining biodiversity on earth. How can we enjoy and protect something if we don’t know it is out there to enjoy and protect?
... Hace más de 20 años que el mundo académico es consciente de la brecha entre la urgencia para conocer la biodiversidad del planeta (con un 90% estimado de especies todavía desconocidas [Wägele et al., 2011]) y la escasez de taxónomos para identificar y describir estas especies. La Convention on Biological Diversity realizada en 1995 bautizó este problema como "taxonomic impediment" (Evenhuis, 2007). ...
... Una de las principales metas de la biología es saber que especies viven en nuestro planeta(Agnarsson y Kuntner, 2007).Lejos de ser una disciplina aburrida y repetitiva, la taxonomía tiene la fascinación de la poética definición de E.O.Wilson (2004): una "exploración pionera de la vida en un planeta poco conocido". Para descubrir, o redescrubrir, como disfrutar de la taxonomía,Evenhuis (2007) señala 8 pasos para alcanzar la "iluminación y el nirvana taxonómico", que sin duda, aún si la iluminación no llega, ayudan a alcanzar una alta calidad y utilidad en este trabajo. ...
... This revised taxonomy is primarily based upon a revised understanding of characters in the genitalia, especially the phallus. We basically follow the genital character nomenclature already established and standardised for Potamyia, Orthopsyche, Caledopsyche, Abacaria and Cheumatopsyche (Malicky 1997a, Nielsen 1957b, Oláh et al. 2006b, 2006c, 2007, Schefter 2005, Schmid 1968a. We have further elaborated the morphological nomenclature of the genitalia and describe new characters in order to make the genital terminology exhaustive and more applicable for all hydropsychine genera. ...
... Moreover their filter feeeding activitiy has prime function in generating and maintaining various ecosystem services. An increasing number of studies have been carried out on the group in the last years, both with the systematics (Malicky & Chantaramongkol 2000, Mey 1996a, 1998d, 1999b, 2003, Oláh et al. 2006a, 2006b, 2007 and phylogeny (Geraci et al. 2005, Schefter 2005). The recent discovery and description of hundreds of new species indicate the elasticity of structural elements on heads, legs, wings and genitalia. ...
The taxonomy of the genera of Hydropsychinae is revised. The following genera are synonymized: Hydatomanicus Ulmer, 1951 and Hydatopsyche Ulmer, 1926 are synonymized with Hydromanicus Brauer, 1865; Streptopsyche Ross & Unzicker, 1977 is synonymized with Calosopsyche Ross & Unzicker, 1977; Symphitopsyche Ulmer, 1907, Mexipsyche Ross & Unzicker, 1977, Ceratopsyche Ross & Unzicker, 1977 and Herbertorossia Ulmer, 1957 are synonymized with Hydropsyche Pictet, 1834; and Plectropsyche Ross, 1947 is synonymized with Cheumatopsyche Wallengren, 1891. A new genus, Schmidopsyche Oláh & Schefter, new genus is established and the single species in the genus, S. rossi Oláh & Schefter, new species is described and illustrated, based on material collected by Schmid in Sikkim in 1959. The additional 61 new species are described and illustrated: India: Hydromanicus krsamgin Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. sacso Oláh & Johanson, new species; H. naraik Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. palnis Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. topali Oláh & Johanson, new species; Hydropsyche januha Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. kamenga Oláh & Schefter, new species; H. mizora Oláh & Schefter, new species; H. narayana Oláh & Johanson, new species; H. khasigiri Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. igunapali Oláh & Schefter, new species; H. kangra Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. kiogupa Oláh & Schefter, new species; H. minutanga Oláh & Johanson, new species; H. tritiyaha Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. ekaropa Oláh & Schefter, new species; H. yathetima Oláh & Schefter, new species; H. keralana Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. semkala Oláh & Johanson, new species; H. shillonga Oláh & Barnard, new species; Cheumatopsyche barakambra Oláh & Johanson, new species; C. mariannae Oláh & Johanson, new species; C. sandrae Oláh & Johanson, new species; Potamyia assamana Oláh & Schefter, new species. Vietnam: Hydromanicus demden Oláh & Johanson, new species; and Hydropsyche soinha Oláh & Johanson, new species (also from Malaysia); H. tanung Oláh & Johanson, new species; H. lomdom Oláh & Johanson, new species; H. sangbung Oláh & Johanson, new species; H. keoda Oláh & Johanson, new species; H. xenga Oláh & Johanson, new species; and Cheumatopsyche simayorum Oláh & Johanson, new species. Malaysia: Hydropsyche gekilara Oláh & Barnard, new species; H. tanua Oláh & Barnard, new species; and H. namea Oláh & Barnard, new species. Philippines: Hydropsyche meyi Oláh & Johanson, new species; Cheumatopsyche anonima Oláh & Johanson, new species; C. kuranishii Oláh & Johanson, new species; and C. montapo Oláh & Johanson, new species. Papua New Guinea: Hydropsyche flintorum Oláh & Johanson, new species; and H. carolae Oláh & Johanson, new species. Tibet: Hydropsyche gyantsana Oláh & Barnard, new species. Nepal: Hydropsyche nepalarawa Oláh & Johanson, new species; and Cheumatopsyche chitawana Oláh & Johanson, new species. China: Hydropsyche chengdu Oláh & Barnard, new species; and Cheumatopsyche yangmorseorum Oláh & Johanson, new species. Iran: Hydropsyche masula Oláh & Johanson, new species. New Caledonia: Orthopsyche anulmika Oláh & Johanson, new species. Japan: Cheumatopsyche okinawana Oláh & Johanson, new species; and C. tanidai Oláh & Johanson, new species. Taiwan: Cheumatopsyche davisi Oláh & Johanson, new species; and C. tungpa Oláh & Johanson, new species. Sri Lanka: Cheumatopsyche hasalaka Oláh & Johanson, new species. South Africa: Cheumatopsyche krugerana Oláh & Johanson, new species. Madagascar: Cheumatopsyche mafana Oláh & Johanson, new species; C. nondra Oláh & Johanson, new species; C. tiokalamkita Oláh & Johanson, new species; C. fianara Oláh & Johanson, new species; C. masiposa Oláh & Johanson, new species; C. ranoma Oláh & Johanson, new species; and C. rantsoa Oláh & Johanson, new species. The following species are synonymized: Hydropsyche kawamurai Tsuda, 1940 is synonymized with H. kozhantschikovi Martynov, 1924, Hydropsyche belos Malicky & Chantaramongkol, 2000 is synonymized with H. klimai Mey, 1999, Hydropsyche taiwanensis Mey, 1997 is synonymized with H. spinata Kobayashi, 1987, and Cheumatopsyche copiosa Kimmins, 1956 is synonymized with C. columnata Martynov, 1935. Recognized genera are divided into previously established and new species groups, defined by shared diagnostic characters. All Oriental species of Hydropsyche Pictet and Hydromanicus Brauer are grouped into different levels of species groups based on similar morphology in male genitalia.
... However, owing to taxonomic impediments, biodiversity assessment is difficult for many arthropod clades (e.g. Wheeler et al., 2004;Evenhuis, 2007;De Carvalho et al., 2007). The problem is particularly severe in the tropics and for taxa characterized by high species diversity and abundance. ...
We are entering the sixth mass extinction with little data for “dark taxa”, although they comprise most species. Much of the neglect is due to the fact that conventional taxonomic methods struggle with handling thousands of specimens belonging to hundreds of species. We thus here propose a new strategy that we call “dark taxonomy”. It addresses (i) taxonomic impediments, (ii) the lack of biodiversity baselines and (iii) the low impact of revisionary research. Taxonomic impediments are reduced by carrying out revisions at small geographic scales to keep the number of specimens low. The risk of taxonomic error is reduced by delimiting species based on two types of data. We furthermore show that dark taxonomy can yield important biodiversity baseline data by using samples obtained with biomonitoring traps. Lastly, we argue that the impact of revisionary research can be improved by publishing two papers addressing different readerships. The principles of dark taxonomy are illustrated by our taxonomic treatment of Singapore's fungus gnats (Mycetophilidae) based only on Malaise trap samples. We show that a first batch of specimens ( N = 1454) contains 120 species, of which 115 are new to science, thus reducing taxonomic impediments by increasing the number of described Oriental species by 25%. Species delimitation started with using DNA barcodes to estimate the number of Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) before “LIT” (Large‐scale Integrative Taxonomy) was used to obtain the species boundaries for the 120 species by integrating morphological and molecular data. To test the taxonomic completeness of the revision, we next analysed a second batch of 1493 specimens and found that >97% belonged to the 120 species delimited based on the first batch. Indeed, the second batch only contained 18 new and rare MOTUs, i.e. our study suggests that a single revision can simultaneously yield the names for all important species and relevant biodiversity baseline data. Overall, we believe that “dark taxonomy” can quickly ready a large unknown taxon for biomonitoring.
... Access to material in the field faces legal issues, complex logistics, and funding shortages. After the specimens are in labs, there is risk of samples rotting without even being properly or extensively curated or analyzed (Evenhuis 2007). Making the material available to specialists alone is complex: it demands expertise often unavailable to sort samples down at least to the family level-there are over 1,100 families of Hexapoda-, it is expensive and time-consuming. ...
... In addition to collecting biological information wherever available, we must diversify our taxon sampling when addressing conservation issues. This approach contrasts with the taxonomic impediment, characterized by the limited number of proficient taxonomists and specialists, along with the resulting lack of resources (Carvalho et al. 2005;Evenhuis 2007). This challenge becomes more pronounced in undeveloped countries and neglected taxa, such as insects (Santos et al. 2017), contributing to the existing gaps. ...
The perils of climate change turn the definition of conservation areas into an urgent task. With finite financial resources, we must choose efficiently what and where to prioritize. Here, we discuss the benefits of using three parameters—species richness, functional and phylogenetic diversity—to subsidize the proposal of conservation areas complementary to those already existing in Southern South America and New Zealand. The parameters were defined using museum specimens and available taxonomic registers for three genera of craneflies: Aphrophila, Zelandomyia, and Amphineurus (Rhamphoneurus). We found additional priority conservation areas for New Zealand and Southern South America based on maximized species richness, phylogenetic and functional diversity of Aphrophila, Amphineurus (Rhamphoneurus), and Zelandomyia. We plotted the new areas into maps presenting the current conservation areas to compare them. We advocate utilizing all available information on biodiversity for conservation initiatives, including data stored in museums. New Zealand and Southern South America are examples of how dealing with multiple parameters, including criteria that take evolutionary history and species ecology into account, may lead to reliable proposals of priority conservation areas.
... Biodiversity assessment and monitoring are among the biggest and most urgent challenges of modern biology, given that many natural environments are disappearing fast and biodiversity loss is destabilizing whole ecosystems. However, due to taxonomic impediments, biodiversity assessment is difficult for many arthropod clades (e.g., Wheeler et al. 2004;Evenhuis 2007;de Carvalho et al. 2007). The problem is particularly severe in the tropics and for taxa characterized by high species diversity and abundance. ...
We are entering the 6th mass extinction event on the planet with scarcely any data for "dark taxa" that comprise most animal species. These taxa have been neglected, because conventional taxonomic methods are not well-equipped to process tens of thousands of specimens belonging to thousands of species. We here test a new protocol for tackling the data deficiency problem for dark taxa by simultaneously addressing (1) taxonomic impediments, (2) lack of biodiversity baseline data, (3) and low impact of revisionary research. We propose to overcome the taxonomic impediments by carrying out revisions at small geographic scales to keep the number of specimens and species manageable. To lower the risk of taxonomic error, species delimitation and description are based on multiple data sources ("integrative taxonomy"). Secondly, we propose to create baseline data for dark taxa by initially revising them only based on fresh specimens obtained with the same sampling methods that are also used for biodiversity monitoring (e.g., Malaise traps for flying insects). This ensures that the revision constitutes a biodiversity baseline and the species most relevant for biomonitoring are revised first. Thirdly, we propose to improve the impact of taxonomic revisions by publishing two papers addressing different readerships (general and specialists). We illustrate our proposals by carrying out a taxonomic revision of the fungus gnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) of Singapore based on specimens obtained with Malaise traps placed at 107 sites across different habitats. We show that a first batch of specimens (N=1,456) contains 120 species, of which 115 are new to science and described in a separate taxonomic monograph. Species delimitation started with obtaining NGS barcodes (313-bp) that were used for estimating the number of MOTUs. This revealed 116-129 MOTUs depending on whether PTP, ABGD (P=0.001-0.060), or objective clustering (2-5%) was used. Afterwards, we applied the "LIT" process (Large-scale Integrative Taxonomy) which optimizes the integration of morphological and molecular data by using the molecular data to identify which specimens should be studied morphologically. Applying LIT to 3% MOTUs revealed a match ratio of 91% between the MOTUs and putative morphospecies, but an even higher match ratio of 97% was found for MOTUs obtained with 5% Objective Clustering and ABGD (P=0.060). Using these parameters, only two MOTUs had to be fused for perfect congruence between molecular and morphological data for the 120 species. To test the completeness of our monograph, we then analyzed a second batch of 1,567 specimens. Here, all clustering algorithms and settings revealed only 20 additional MOTUs. This means that the first batch of specimens already covered 85% of the diversity, although 22% and 10% of the species are singletons or doubletons, respectively. Even more remarkable is that >97% of all specimens in the second batch belonged to species described based on the first batch. The study thus demonstrates that revisions of dark taxa at moderate geographic scales with a moderate number of specimens from standardized traps can move dark taxa from being unavailable for biomonitoring to being well suited. Incidentally, the study also increases the number of described species of Mycetophilidae in the entire Oriental Region by >25% indicating the size of taxonomic impediments for dark taxa in Southeast Asia.
... Advances in digitising collections may reduce or even remove these impediments, or at the least allow researchers to decide if it is worth travelling to view a specimen [15,84,85]. Specialist skills such as taxonomy are rarer because of perceived poor career prospects [86,87], so projects needing taxonomic expertise require collaboration [88,89]. Globally, museum directors recognise collaborative potential too [59]. ...
As a case study of the responses of natural history museums to changing scientific and funding environments, we analysed research publications of Australia’s Natural History Museums (ANHMs) 1981–2020. Using Scopus, 9,923 relevant documents 1981–2020 were identified, mainly research papers but with a growing proportion of reviews. The number of documents published increased over tenfold from 39 (1981) to 553 (2020), likely driven by collaborations (rising from 28.5% of documents 1981–1985 to 87.2% of documents 2016–2020), contributions from retired staff, and volunteer support. The mean length of documents (pages) ranged from a low of 15.3 in 2001–2005 to a high of 17.4 in 1991–1995, but this statistically significant result was trivial in practical terms. The sources (i.e., journals, book titles, conference proceedings) in which ANHM authors published changed over time, with growing proportions of publications in journals covering molecular ecology/phylogenetics and biological conservation. We identified the major areas of study canvassed within the corpus of publications by developing structural topic models based on patterns of word use in document titles, abstracts and keyword lists. The topics discovered included study subjects traditional for natural history museums (new taxa, phylogeny, systematics, animal morphology, palaeontology, minerals), new directions (molecular genetics, ecology, biological conservation) and marine biology (probably reflecting Australia’s large coastline). Most citations came from Australia, USA and UK, although in 2016–2020 only 27.9% of citing documents included an Australian author. Growth in numbers of documents and collaborations, as well as use of documents internationally over a period of great change in scientific and funding environments, indicate an enduring legacy of ANHM research, grounded on the intrinsic value of the collections.
... Nevertheless, numerous, as yet-undescribed taxa are held in many earthworm collections worldwide (including in the authors' institutions), and we acknowledge the highly uneven distribution of earthworm sampling worldwide (e.g., Phillips et al. 2019) -with many gaps in important biodiverse hotspots, especially in the tropics. Hence, it is likely that an equally large or larger number of taxa will probably be found with further sampling efforts in the next few decades, though descriptions will continue to lag behind discoveries due to the taxonomic "impediment" (Evenhuis 2007;Magalhães et al. 2021). Hence, the total richness of earthworms worldwide is probably well over 8,000 species. ...
In the current paper we present an updated checklist of all the megadrile earthworms (Crassiclitellata: Annelida) in the world, and notes on the distribution of families worldwide. Biogeographic responses to geological phenomena including plate tectonics, as well as to past and present climate and habitat distributions, are the main factors determining the present distribution of earthworm families. A total of ca. 5,738 species/subspecies (5,406 species and 332 unique subspecies; i.e., not counting the nomino-typical subspecies) belonging to 23 families (including one non-crassiclitellate family: Moniligastridae) are currently recognized worldwide, of which three families (Tritogeniidae and Kazimierzidae from Southern Africa and Arecoidae, a new family from Brazil described herein), 35 genera and close to 1200 new taxa (including subspecies) were described in the 21st century. Nonetheless, the large number of still undescribed species will likely increase this value to well over 8,000 species. Ten families are monospecific and/or monogeneric and have a mostly restricted distribution. On the other hand, more than 87 widespread cosmopolitan species have been catalogued, some of them with important invasive potential, belonging mainly to families Lumbricidae, Acanthodrilidae, Benhamiidae, Megascolecidae, Rhinodrilidae and Ocnerodrilidae. Taxonomic housekeeping was performed for the preoccupied Rhinodrilidae genus Tairona Righi – herein substituted by Taironina nom. nov., and Guarani camaqua Rodríguez & Lima was reinstated and removed from synonymy with Criodrilus lacuum Hoffmeister, 1845, resulting in a wider definition of the Almidae family. Furthermore, Amynthas maximalis nom. nov. is proposed herein as a substitution name for the preoccupied name Amynthas maximus Qiu & Dong, 2019, and Arecoidae is proposed herein as a new monotypic family for the aquamegadrile species Areco reco Righi, Ayres & Bittencourt, 1978.
... As with most insect orders, detecting odonate specimens that may belong to an unknown component of extant biodiversity (i.e. an undescribed species) can be routine when studying poorly known regions of the biosphere. It is undoubtedly an exciting finding and considered a step toward achieving "taxonomic nirvana" (Evenhuis 2007). When data on a putative unknown taxon is detected, the steps of taxonomy practice (identification with delimitation and description) should be carefully undertaken due to a number of issues, ranging from the theoretical (e.g. ...
Ângelo Parise Pinto et al., Species identification and description. In: Dragonflies and Damselflies. Second Edition. Edited by Alex Córdoba-Aguilar, Christopher D. Beatty and Jason T. Bried, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press (2023). DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192898623.003.0019
This research-level text documents the latest advances in odonate biology and relates these to a broader ecological and evolutionary research agenda. Despite being one of the smallest insect orders, dragonflies offer a number of advantages for both laboratory and field studies. In fact, they continue to make a crucial contribution to the advancement of our broader understanding of insect ecology and evolution. This new edition provides a critical summary of the major advances in these fields. Contributions from many of the leading researchers in dragonfly biology offer new perspectives and paradigms as well as additional unpublished data. The editors have carefully assembled a mix of theoretical and applied chapters (including those addressing conservation and monitoring) as well as a balance of emerging (e.g. molecular evolution) and established research topics, providing suggestions for future study in each case. This accessible text is not about dragonflies per se, but rather an essential source of knowledge that describes how different sets of evolutionary and ecological principles/ideas have been tested on a particular taxon. This second edition of Dragonflies and Damselflies is suitable for graduate students and researchers in entomology, evolutionary biology, population and behavioral ecology, community ecology, and conservation biology. It will be of particular interest and use to those working on insects and an indispensable reference text for odonate biologists.
... Some of these have been made available on the internet and have been widely visited by researchers and the general public worldwide. These constitute excellent examples of the eighth step of what Evenhuis (2007) listed as important points to be considered by taxonomists in their regular work. ...
The contribution of the BIOTA/FAPESP Program to the advancement of the knowledge on terrestrial invertebrates. Biota Neotropica 22(spe): e20221398. https://doi. Abstract: The variability of the organisms living in a given area constitute what is referred to as biodiversity, one of nature's fundamental properties, responsible for the balance and stability of ecosystems. The loss of biodiversity has been of great concern to scientists, especially because of the role played by human activities in this regard, able to lead to irreversible circumstances. The São Paulo Research Foundation (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, FAPESP) plays a major role in supporting research efforts in the most diverse branches of science. In the late 1990´s, FAPESP launched a major program to promote research on biodiversity, named BIOTA/ FAPESP. So far, this program has financed the conduction of 26 projects, involving research activities in most of Brazil, while focusing mainly the State of São Paulo. These projects have generated about 1140 publications in peer-reviewed journals of high standard, providing relevant information, including the original description of 1187 species and 76 genera, the complementary description of 350 species, as well as a number of inventory works, biological studies, etc. The program has also been instrumental in the establishment or adequacy of research facilities and training of new taxonomists. Most extensively studied groups of terrestrial invertebrates include Insecta of the orders Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Diptera, and Arachnida of the subclasses Araneae and Acari. Distinct projects have also contributed to the detection of organisms potentially useful as biological control agents and in the determination of maps of major interest for the establishment of public policies. In the future, priority groups for study should include the Annelida and the Nematoda, for the potential both have as beneficial organisms, or for the potential some Nematoda have as organisms harmful to plants and animals. A contribuição do Programa BIOTA/FAPESP para o avanço no conhecimento sobre os invertebrados terrestres Resumo: A variabilidade dos organismos em uma determinada área constitui o que se denomina biodiversidade, uma das propriedades fundamentais da natureza, responsável pelo equilíbrio e estabilidade dos ecossistemas. A perda da biodiversidade tem sido uma grande preocupação para os cientistas, principalmente pelo papel desempenhado pelas atividades humanas, com potencial para desencadear circunstâncias irreversíveis. A Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) desempenha um papel importante no apoio às pesquisas nos mais diversos ramos da ciência. No final da década de 1990, a FAPESP lançou um grande programa de fomento à pesquisa em biodiversidade, denominado BIOTA/FAPESP. Até o momento, este programa financiou a realização de 26 projetos, envolvendo atividades na maior parte do Brasil, embora tenham como foco principal o estado de São Paulo. Esses projetos geraram cerca de 1.140 publicações em periódicos de alto impacto, fornecendo informações relevantes que incluem a descrição original de 1.187 espécies e 76 gêneros e a descrição complementar de 350 espécies, além de diversos trabalhos de inventário, estudos biológicos etc. O programa também tem sido fundamental para o estabelecimento ou adequação de instalações de pesquisa científica e o treinamento de novos taxonomistas. Os grupos de invertebrados terrestres mais estudados incluem os Insecta das ordens Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera e Diptera, e os Arachnida das subclasses Araneae e Acari. Projetos distintos também têm contribuído para a detecção de organismos potencialmente úteis como agentes de controle biológico e na determinação de mapas de áreas preferenciais para o estabelecimento de políticas públicas. No futuro, os grupos prioritários de estudo devem incluir os Annelida e os Nematoda, pelo potencial que ambos têm como organismos benéficos, ou pelo potencial que alguns Nematoda têm como organismos prejudiciais a plantas e animais.
... The development of integrative taxonomy will further accelerate species discovery and description without compromising success and not alone depend on novel concepts and approaches (Padial et al., 2010). Therefore, most important need is more expert taxonomist and more funding is needed for progress of integrative taxonomy with the strong focus on publishing the systematic revisions and species descriptions to alleviate the taxonomic impediment (Evenhuis, 2007). ...
The major pests of apple include Quadraspidiotus perniciosus, Eriosoma lanigerum, Cydia pomonella, Dorysthenes huegelii, Apriona cinerea, Scolytus nitidus and Xyleborus spp., Archips pomivora, Frankliniella dampfi, Taeniothrips rhopalantennalis, Thrips flavus, T. florum, T. carthami, Aeolothrips collaris, Haplothrips tenuipennis, Lymantria obfuscata, Malacosoma indicum, Aeolesthes sarta and Aeolesthes holosericea, Dyscerus fletcheri, Panonychus ulmi and Tetranychus urticae. Pear is found to be mainly attacked by Q. perniciosus, Melolontha melolontha, Cacopsylla pyricola, Myzus persicae, Aeolesthes sarta, Dorysthenes huegelii, Cydia pomonella, Taeniothrips sp. and Panonychus ulmi. The other pests of pear include Protactia neglecta, Sphenoptera lafertei, Zeuzera multistrigata, Archips argyrospilus, Phyllobius sp., Adoretus sp., Lygus pabulinus, Aphis pomi, Euschistus conspersus, Malacosoma indica, Euproctis sp., Indarbela quadrinotata, Bactrocera dorsalis, Eutetranychus orientalis and Tetranychus urticae. Peach is found to be damaged by Brachycaudus helichrysi, Myzus persicae, Hyalopterus pruni, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus, Bactrocera ciliatus, B. dorsalis and B. zonatus, Lymantria obfuscata, Synanthedon exitiosa, Scolytus spp. and Xyleborus spp., Malacosoma indicum, Chrysobothris mali and Capnodis tenebrionis, Lymantria obfuscata, Protaetia neglecta, Lecanium corni, Taeniothrips spp. and Frankliniella dampfi, Odontotermes obesus and Meloidogyne spp. Minor pests include Aeolesthes sarta, Conogethes punctiferalis, Archips argyrospila, A. subsidiarius, Anarsia lineatella, Euschistus conspersus, Lygus pabulinus, Macrodactylus subspinosus and Adoretus spp., Grapholita molesta, Macropsis trimaculata and Haltica samipicens. Apricot is found to be damaged by Brachycaudus helichrysi, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus, Cydia pomonella, Lymantria obfuscata, Hyalopterus pruni, Scolytus spp. and Xyleborus spp., Chrysobothris mali and Capnodis tenebrionis, Adoretos sp. and Brahmina sp., Lecanium corni, Malacosoma indica, Taeniothrips spp. and Frankliniella dampfi. Other pests include Anuraphid helichyrysi, Archips argyrospilus and Archips subsidiaria, Haltica semipicens, Forficula auricularia, Lygus pabulinus, Anarsia lineatella, Euschistus conspersus, Oryctes rhinoceros and Eurytoma sp. Cherry is found to be damaged by Aeolesthes sarta, Rhagoletis indifferens, Holotrichia spp. and Anamola spp., Lymantria obfuscata, Scolytus sp. and Xyleborus sp., Dorysthenes huegelii and Sphenoptera lafertei. Persimon is attacked by Pseudococcus longispinus, Trioza diospyri, Parthenolecanium corni and Hemiberlesia rapax, Bactrocera dorsalis, Chrysobothris mali, Hypocala rostrata, Orthotydeus sp., Meloidogyne spp. and Thrips sp. Almond is attacked by Scolytus spp. and Xyleborus spp., Sphenoptera lafertei, Drosicha dalbergiae and Brachycaudus helichrysi. Walnut is found damaged by Aeolesthes sarta, Alcides porrectirostris, Holotrichia spp., Anamola spp. and Adoretus spp., Lymantria obfuscata, Scolytus nitidus, Chromaphis juglandicola and Panaphis juglandis, Cydia pomonella, Eriophyes erineus, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus, Myllocerus sp., Drosicha dalbergiae and Archips argyrospilus. Olive is found to be attacked by Bactrocera oleae, Saissetia oleae, Melalgus confertus, Oxyenus maxwelli, Euphyllura olivina and Parlatoria oleae. Kiwifruit is found to be damaged by Platynota stultana, Archips argyrospila, Choristoneura rosaceana, Argyrotaenia citrana, Hemiberlesia rapax, Boisea trivittata, Scolypopa australis, Tetranychus urticae, Ctenopseustis obliquana, Planotortrix excessana, Heliothrips spp. and Meloidogyne incognita. Strawberry is found to be attacked by Ancylis comptana, Scirtothrips dorsalis, Phyllophaga spp., Tetranychus urticae, Meloidogyne sp., Agrotis ipsilon, Euproctis chrysorrhoea, Chaetosiphon fragaefolii and Aphis forbesi, Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera litura, Lygus sp. and Bactrocera sp.
... But it also has to deal with the process of handling subsamples in the long run. This concerns the issue of labs not "taking property" of samples informally, i.e., not ever returning material and sometimes never actually even working with the samples (for this part of the taxonomic impediment, see, e.g., Evenhuis 2007). ...
... Once paired (or distinguished) on molecular grounds, distinctive morphological traits can be sought for formal description of taxa. The large number of unpaired oak gallwasp taxa in the Nearctic presents considerable opportunity for application of this 'reciprocal enlightenment' approach (Evenhuis 2007). ...
Most oak gallwasps (Hymenoptera; Cynipidae, Cynipini) have lifecycles involving obligate alternation between a sexual and an asexual generation. Many species are currently known from only one of these generations, with the alternate generation either unknown or separately described with a different name. Here we describe previously unknown generations for 12 Nearctic oak cynipids. We describe the sexual generation for ten species previously known only from an asexual generation: Acraspis quercushirta (Bassett, 1864), Acraspis villosa Gillette, 1888, Amphibolips spinosa Ashmead, 1887, Andricus balanaspis (Weld, 1922), comb. nov., Antron quercusnubila (Bassett, 1881), Bassettia pallida Ashmead, 1896, Neuroterus floccosus (Bassett, 1881), comb. rev., Philonix fulvicollis Fitch, 1859, Phylloteras poculum (Osten Sacken, 1862) and Sphaeroteras carolina (Ashmead, 1887), comb. rev.. We describe the asexual generation of Bassettia flavipes (Gillette, 1889), comb. nov. and Melikaiella tumifica (Osten Sacken, 1865), both previously known only from a sexual generation. Three described taxa (Neuroterus vernus Gillette, 1889, syn. nov., Neuroterus papillosus Beutenmueller, 1910, syn. nov. and Neuroterus perminimus Bassett, 1900, syn. nov.) are all identified as the sexual generation of Neuroterus niger Gillette, 1888. We also comment on the presence of previously unknown non-functional males reared from galls of the asexual generation of Neuroterus niger. We identify two further synonyms: Acraspis macrocarpae Bassett, 1890 is syn. nov. of A. quercushirta (Bassett, 1864), and Bassettia archboldi Melika & Abrahamson, 2007 is syn. nov. of Bassettia pallida Ashmead, 1896. In addition, we formally synonymise multiple varieties described by Kinsey within his Acraspis quercushirta, A. villosa, Antron quercusnubila, Neuroterus niger and Philonix fulvicollis species complexes. We provide descriptions and diagnoses for these taxa, and summarise what is known of their biology, including host associations. All taxa and relationships between alternate generations are supported by morphological and molecular data.
... While potential taxonomic acts should be seen as hypotheses requiring rigorous data-driven confrontation before being accepted (Hey et al. 2003, Dayrat 2005, Agnarsson and Kunter 2007, deCarvalho et al. 2008), outside of a few charismatic groups (Burgin et al. 2018, Upham et al. 2019 many taxonomists still rest their actions on personal expertise (Evenhuis 2007, Páll-Gergely 2017. Although physical features almost always underlie their conclusions, because statistical confrontation has never taken place the reader must accept on faith the word of the author that their statements are true. ...
Accurate ecological assemblage analysis requires that underlying taxonomic divisions reflect biological reality. However, the validity of many taxonomic hypotheses have never been rigorously confronted with replicable data. As a result, these categories might say more about human psychology than biology. We consider here the ways that statistically unchallenged taxonomic concepts can bias observed ecological pattern across multiple spatial scales. We compared assemblage lists for a group of Holarctic land snail species/subspecies hypotheses both before and after empirical confrontation. Of the 124 taxa initially believed to exist, only 105 were validated, with 34 being oversplit, another 15 being incorrectly lumped within 11 taxa and a final 33 having incorrect identification features. This led to considerable scale‐dependent alteration in assemblage patterns across 2528 sites within 42 regions and 9 biogeographic zones: depending upon location up to 90% of sites had revised composition with 10% showing a reduction in richness. Additionally, 6–60% of site pairs had altered turnover. These impacts became larger and more frequent with increasing sample grain and extent: 80–90% of regions and 100% of global biogeographic zones demonstrated altered composition, with 70–80% of regions and 100% of zones having changed richness. Reductions in richness also became more prevalent with increasing scale. Likewise, 80–94% of regional and zone pairs were found to have altered turnover, with increased similarity predominating at small and decreased similarity at large extents. Because these issues appear general and are not limited to land snail taxonomy, it is crucial for macroecologists to consider how unchallenged taxonomic concepts might bias their results. The use of objective and replicable data‐driven validation of all recognized taxonomic concepts is thus an essential foundation for accurate ecological hypothesis testing.
... Inventorying is a fundamental tool for environmental management (McNeely et al. 1995) as what is unknown cannot be protected. Therefore, it constitutes the first and most reasonable conservation action (Evenhuis 2007). Since species are the fundamental units of biology, ecology, and conservation assessments (Mace 2004;Tobias et al. 2010;Costello et al. 2013), most biological inventories are presented at this level of biological hierarchy. ...
Optimising conservation efforts requires an accurate record of the extant species as well as their geographic distributions. Nevertheless, most current conservation strategies start from an incomplete biodiversity inventory. Argentina has an extraordinary diversity of species, however, until now an updated inventory of its fauna has not been carried out. In this context, the main objective of this work is to present the results of the first national inventory of vertebrate species. Experts from each major vertebrate taxonomic group assembled and compiled its respective inventory. The information gathered included taxonomic rank, conservation status, endemism and geographic distribution. Species richness and representativeness were calculated for each taxonomic group, distinguishing between native, endemic and exotic, for each Argentinian province. Our results show Argentina harbours 3,303 species: 574 marine fish, 561 freshwater fish, 177 amphibians, 450 reptiles, 1,113 birds, and 428 mammals. Native species constitute 98.1% of the total taxa. The results achieved were spatially represented showing a pattern of higher richness from north to south and from east to west. Species considered as threatened account for 17.8% and 15.2% are endemic. There are five Extinct species. These results provide key information on developing strategies and public policies at the national and provincial levels and constitute a tool for the management and conservation of biodiversity.
... Even more problematic, the type specimens that define species are often deposited in western countries regardless of where they were collected, leaving many countries with limited ability to identify their own species (Orr et al. 2020). These and other factors such as dwindling career and funding support for traditional taxonomists have ultimately led to the "taxonomic impediment," essentially the insufficiency of expertise necessary to meet the demands for such knowledge made by conservationists, ecologists, or other researchers (Evenhuis 2007). ...
Integrative taxonomy is central to modern taxonomy and systematic biology, including behaviour, niche preference, distribution, morphological analysis and DNA barcoding. However, decades of use demonstrate that these methods can face challenges when used in isolation, for instance, potential misidentifications due to phenotypic plasticity for morphological methods, and incorrect identifications because of introgression, incomplete lineage sorting and horizontal gene transfer for DNA barcoding. Although researchers have advocated the use of integrative taxonomy, few detailed algorithms have been proposed. Here, we develop a convolutional neural network method (morphology-molecule network (MMNet)) that integrates morphological and molecular data for species identification. The newly proposed method (MMNet) worked better than four currently-available alternative methods when tested with 10 independent datasets representing varying genetic diversity from different taxa. High accuracies were achieved for all groups, including beetles (98.1% of 123 species), butterflies (98.8% of 24 species), fishes (96.3% of 214 species) and moths (96.4% of 150 total species). Further, MMNet demonstrated a high degree of accuracy (>98%) in four datasets including closely related species from the same genus. The average accuracy of two modest sub-genomic (single nucleotide polymorphism) datasets, comprising eight putative subspecies respectively, is 90%. Additional tests show that the success rate of species identification under this method most strongly depends on the amount of training data, and is robust to sequence length and image size. Analyses on the contribution of different data types (image versus gene) indicate that both morphological and genetic data are important to the model, and that genetic data contribute slightly more. The approaches developed here serve as a foundation for the future integration of multi-modal information for integrative taxonomy, such as image, audio, video, 3D scanning and biosensor data, to characterize organisms more comprehensively as a basis for improved investigation, monitoring and conservation of biodiversity.
... So-called 'taxonomic impediment' is one of those issues that merits more profound reflection by scientists, given its importance and widespread reporting. It assumes that taxonomic studies are insufficient in number, breadth, and speed of publication (Evenhuis, 2007;Wheeler et al., 2004;Wilson, 2004), and are therefore unable to satisfy the demands of conservationists and society as a whole, given the onset of a massive new extinction event. Under this scenario, it is believed that taxonomists will be unable to fill this gap, i.e. to name all of the planet's extant biota before many species become extinct, much less with sufficient time to establish strategies to adequately conserve even representative samples of this biodiversity (e.g. ...
We examine notions of taxonomic ‘impediment’, ‘gap’, ‘inflation’ and ‘anarchy’, all of which are increasingly prevalent in discussions of the global biodiversity crisis. Following a critical analysis of the history of those notions, we postulate that the entire issue behind them resides in a deep philosophical deficiency in the general comprehension of taxonomic principles. In particular, there is a profound “conceptual turbulence” in the knowledge flux between taxonomy and conservation biology. In general, taxonomists only vaguely understand what conservationists wish to preserve, and conservationists appear to not consider more profound taxonomic issues and the consequences for their interests. Thereafter, we demonstrate the importance of constructing a more solid theoretical bridge between these disciplines, as well as the importance of refining concepts surrounding diversity estimates and species extinction in a world where knowledge can be considered to be increasingly fluid. We also underline the importance of constantly reflecting on the targets of conservation action and strategy, especially the urgency of the question regarding the species as the main unit to be preserved. Ultimately, for taxonomists, it is important to embrace philosophy to make theoretical knowledge more consistent with the wealth of biological theory and empirical data currently at our disposal. Especially, we stress that without a straightforward theoretical dialogue between the delimitation methods and conceptual frameworks such as those governing operational formulae (e.g., DNA barcoding, or reciprocally monophyletic populations), the resultant species should not be viewed as necessarily comparable, or be considered as of equal utility to all fields of investigation, including conservation.
... Species identification is an essential process for almost all biodiversity studies and can constitute a major constraint for conservation evaluation and legislation due to the inherent difficulty of identifying many of the groups, the long time needed for processing the samples, and the extensive taxonomic experience that this process requires (Gauld et al. 2000;Guerra-García et al. 2008;Wheeler 2013;de Oliveira et al. 2020;Saoud 2020). Meeting this goal for megadiverse groups such as insects is often arduous considering the vast number of species that must be identified and the limited number of taxonomists, which make correct identification a very time-consuming process (De Carvalho et al. 2005;Evenhuis 2007;Wheeler 2008;Moore 2011;Yang et al. 2015). It is therefore necessary to create easy-to-use identification tools, such as visually enhanced guides, to overcome the difficulties involved in the identification process (Kirchoff et al. 2011). ...
Hunchback darkling beetles of the Ibero-Maghrebian genus Misolampus Latreille, 1807 (Tenebrionidae, Stenochiinae) encompass six species: M. gibbulus (Herbst 1799), M. goudotii Guérin-Méneville, 1834, M. lusitanicus Brême, 1842, M. ramburii Brême, 1842, M. scabricollis Graells, 1849, and M. subglaber Rosenhauer, 1856. Previously known distribution ranges of the species were delineated using many old records, the persistence of such populations being questionable under the current situation of global biodiversity loss. Additionally, the status of geographically isolated populations of the genus have been the subject of taxonomic controversy. An exhaustive bibliographical revision and field search was undertaken, and the Misolampus collection of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC) was revised. The aims are to (i) provide an updated geographic distribution range for the species of Misolampus; (ii) to determine the taxonomic status of controversial populations; (iii) to provide a catalogue for Misolampus; and (iv) to discuss the conservation status of these saproxylic beetles. As a result, a catalogue including synonymies and type localities, geographical records, diagnoses, and information on natural history for all species of Misolampus is presented. The results reveal that the distribution ranges of the species of Misolampus have not undergone a reduction in the last century, and indicate the presence of the genus in areas where it had never been recorded before. The morphological variability of M. goudotii drove the proposal of different taxa that are here formally synonymised as follows: M. goudotii Guérin-Méneville, 1834 = M. erichsoni Vauloger de Beaupré, 1900, syn. nov. = M. peyerimhoffi Antoine, 1926, syn. nov.
... • Ultimately, the taxa to be monitored in CFs will need to be identified, but the limiting factor is often the availability of taxonomists that can identify the species (Evenhuis, 2007). Even when they are available, taxonomists may not be effectively integrated into ecological monitoring (Gotelli, 2004). ...
... • Often, the limiting factor is the availability of taxonomists that can identify the species (Evenhuis, 2007). Even when they are available, taxonomists often are not effectively integrated into ecological monitoring (Gotelli, 2004). ...
The main purpose of the National Biomonitoring Strategy (NBS) is to enable assessment
of biodiversity within community forests (CFs) in Liberia. We define biodiversity in this
context as the variability of living organisms in terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems found
in CFs. Elements of this biodiversity are the foundation of the vast array of ecosystem
services that critically contribute to human well-being. This manual is a companion to the Biomonitoring in Community Forests in Liberia: Towards a National Biomonitoring Network (henceforth ‘the Strategy’), which details the network’s objectives, deliverables and overall implementation plan. Herein we outline recommended sampling, sample processing, and analytical procedures for the NBS. The main purpose of the NBS is to enable assessment of the condition of those organisms or groups of organisms that are considered of importance for communities to use sustainably (e.g. timber tree species, bushmeat, medicinal plants) or to ensure their survival because of their national or international conservation importance (e.g. Red List species). There is recognition that standardized monitoring that is cost-effective is required to undertake the planned work within the NBS. Justification and more detailed description of the system we advocate, RAPELD, is contained in the more extensive companion Strategy document. Here, we detail general sampling and sample processing methods for the main taxonomic groups found in tropical forests of the region. Several appendices provide supplementary information: blank field and taxa enumeration sheets.
... In this sense, Faith et al. (2013) proposed a list of key recommendations for GBIF data providers in order to improve the quality of records and avoid temporal and geographical biases. Indeed, several studies have pointed to the existence of important problems in GBIF data, such as errors and incorrect species nomenclature usage (Evenhuis, 2007;Smith, Johnston, & L€ ucking, 2016;Vecchione et al., 2000). Those studies paid superficial attention to the use of updated taxonomic classification, and the consequences of such neglect emerge as a noteworthy issue for different fields of biology, from genomics to ecology (Kennedy, Kukla, & Paterson, 2005). ...
The increase of free and open online biodiversity databases is of paramount importance for current research in ecology and evolution. However, little attention is paid to using updated taxonomy in these “biodiversity big data” repositories and the quality of their taxonomic information is often questioned. Here we assess how reliable is the current use of nomenclatural classification in the distributional information available from two biodiversity information networks: GBIF and the Brazilian SpeciesLink. We use as a study case the records of Auchenipteridae, a Neotropical fish family that has been subject to recent taxonomical reviews. A data filtering procedure was applied to identify and quantify the inaccuracies in the taxonomical status of the records in three steps: assessment of identification accuracy at the family, genus or species level; current validity of species name; and assignation of inaccurate species records to different categories of classification quality. Synonyms, nonexistent combinations, and outdated combinations were reassigned to currently valid species. A total of 9148 records of Auchenipteridae fishes were analyzed, of which 4165 were from GBIF and 4983 from SpeciesLink, deriving from 46 and 31 sources, respectively. After correcting all possible records following the taxonomic data filtering steps, 6988 records (76.4% of the original) were adequate for describing species distributions, while 2160 remained inaccurate. The most inaccurate records at the species level were due to the use of outdated nomenclatures, resulting in non-valid combinations of species and genus, and synonymy. Our results evidence a large taxonomic inconsistency among records, and, most importantly, that taxonomic information obtained from repositories should be used with caution. Many inaccuracy issues may be embedded in the biodiversity databases’ records, which could lead researchers to provide an incomplete or even mistaken perspective of the variations in the natural world.
... Even the limited curatorial positions are normally burdened with supervisory, technical and administrative work to an extent preventing them from performing taxonomy on a regular basis. Another problem is that taxonomists who have the privilege of being paid to do taxonomy may not live up to their responsibilities (Evenhuis 2007), taking away unique opportunities from highly talented and potentially prolific early-career taxonomists that cannot find a job. This certainly does not help the cause. ...
This paper discusses three issues that challenge contemporaneous taxonomy, with examples from the fields of mycology and lichenology, formulated as three questions: (1) What is the importance of taxonomy in contemporaneous and future science and society? (2) An increasing methodological gap in alpha taxonomy: challenge or opportunity? (3) The Nagoya Protocol: improvement or impediment to the science of taxonomy? The importance of taxonomy in society is illustrated using the example of popular field guides and digital media, a billion-dollar business, arguing that the desire to name species is an intrinsic feature of the cognitive component of nature connectedness of humans. While continuous societal support of a critical mass of taxonomists is necessary to catalogue all species on Earth, it is shown that this is a finite task, and a proposal is made how a remaining 10 million species can be catalogued within 40 years by 1,000 well-trained and dedicated taxonomists, with an investment of $4 billion, corresponding to 0.0001% of the annual global GDP or 0.005% of annual military expenditures. Notorious undercitation of actually used taxonomic resources and lack of coverage of impact metrics for monographs and other taxonomic work that cannot be published in indexed journals is discussed and suggestions are made how this problem can be remedied. An increasing methodological gap in approaches to taxonomy, between classic morphological and advanced genomic studies, affects in particular taxonomists in biodiversity-rich countries and amateurs, also regarding proper training to apply advanced methods and concepts. To counterbalance this problem, international collaborations bringing different expertise to the table and undertaking mutual capacitation are one successful remedy. Classic taxonomy still works for many groups and is a first approach to catalogue species and establish taxon hypotheses, but ultimately each taxonomic group needs to be studied with the array of methods proper to the group, including descriptive work. Finally, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol has put additional burden on basic biodiversity science. Using lichenology in Latin America and Brazil as an example, it is shown that the spirit of non-monetary benefit-sharing proper to taxonomy and systematics, namely capacitation, joint publications, and shared reference collections, has been increasingly implemented long before the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol, and does not need additional “policing”. Indeed, the Nagoya Protocol puts the heaviest burden on taxonomy and researchers cataloguing biodiversity, whereas for the intended target group, namely those seeking revenue gain from nature, the protocol may not actually work effectively. The notion of currently freely accessible digital sequence information (DSI) to become subject to the protocol, even after previous publication, is misguided and conflicts with the guidelines for ethical scientific conduct. Through its implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, Colombia has set a welcome precedence how to exempt taxonomic and systematic research from “access to genetic resources”, and hopefully other biodiversity-rich countries will follow this example.
... There is of course a massive taxonomic impediment to understanding tropical Diptera diversity as most species are uncollected or undescribed (Evenhuis 2007). Various inventory projects have produced useful material for a restricted range of taxa although many such projects fail through poor experimental design and execution (see discussion in Borkent & Brown 2015). ...
This study is based on more than 25,000 specimens of the superfamily Empidoidea (Diptera) collected throughout a full year on a 2000 m elevational habitat succession gradient along a 21 km transect on Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. The samples were sorted to 58 genera and 458 morphospecies (Empididae, 73; Hybotidae, 203; Dolichopodidae, 179; Brachystomatidae, 3). The data were used to prepare the first thorough taxon-focussed description of how diversity of a major group of Diptera is structured in tropical forest biotopes. We found significant spatial (elevation / habitat) and temporal (seasonal) variations in richness (α-diversity) and abundance at family-level. α-Diversity of the four families was maximal in damp evergreen forests at higher elevation (1500–2500 m), but Dolichopodidae also had a major subsidiary peak in lowland dry evergreen forest at 500–1000 m. Genus-, tribe- and subfamily level α-diversity / elevation profiles were varied, indicating that overall family-level richness is a composite of many taxa that contribute low, high or mid-elevation specialisms. We provide a detailed analysis of these specialisms for each of the 58 genera. Adult phenology was correlated with the monsoon and had three characteristic phases: (i) pre-monsoon commencement during the latter part of the hot dry season, (ii) a ‘flush’ of maximal richness during the early-monsoon, and (iii) a secondary richness maximum associated with the late-monsoon. Maximum α-diversity occurred in phases (i) and (ii) but communities in phase (iii) had characteristically low evenness in which a few abundant species were dominant. Cluster analysis and ordination resolved three well-founded communities with different species-abundance distributions, high levels of species-level specialism and habitat-fidelity associated with moist hill evergreen forest (MHE) at >2000 m; mid elevation evergreen forests (EM) at 1000–2000 m and dry lowland forest (DL) at <1000 m. The three forest types with which these communities are associated are widespread and typical of northern Thailand and the diversity characteristics of each habitat are likely scalable to larger geographic areas. The transition from lowland DL through to upper montane MHE communities was generally characterised by increasing abundance, lower evenness (higher dominance), slower temporal turnover of community composition (relaxation of seasonality), longer periods of adult flight activity and rare species contributing less to species richness. Oriental biogeographic influences are strong at lower elevations but Palaearctic influences are increasingly important at higher elevations. The mixing of Oriental and Palaearctic elements in MHE forests is thought to explain the greater phylogenetic complexity at higher elevation (as measured by taxonomic distinctness).
... Morphological taxonomy is one of the numerous ways to study nature, no less important than the others; therefore, if taxonomy were to go missing, we would lose one of the chances to learn from nature. Only people can be passionate about studying species and enjoy their work (Evenhuis 2007), and passion and enjoyment are two indispensable requirements for transmitting the virus of interest to others and to increase the popularity of taxonomy (Pires and Marinoni 2010). However, a great effort from taxonomists is necessary to improve the quality of their research outputs and to enhance the importance of taxonomy: the application of a standardised, rigorous method of study based on integration between ecological and morphological characteristics could increase the accessibility and longevity of the resultant data, enhance the role of neglected benthic species and the chances of receiving research funding. ...
The decline of morphologically based taxonomy is mainly linked to increasing species redundancy, which probably contributed to a worldwide disinterest in taxonomy, and to a reduction of funding for systematic biology and for expertise training. The present trend in the study of biodiversity is integrated taxonomy, which merges morphological and molecular approaches. At the same time, in many cases new molecular techniques have eclipsed the morphological approach. The application of Standardised Integrative Taxonomy, i.e. a rigorous, common method of description based on the integration between ecological and morphological characteristics, may increase the precision, accessibility, exploitability and longevity of the collected data, and favour the renaissance of taxonomy by new investments in biodiversity exploration.
... Sources: for invertebrates, mainly from Zhang ( 2011a , b ), but also Eisenbeis and Wichard (1987) ; Burakowski (1993); Schockaert et al. (2008) , Brewer et al. (2012) , Schmelz and Collado (2015) , Bolton (2016), Orgiazzi et al. (2016) , Beccaloni (2017) ; Bellinger et al. (2017) ; for vertebrates Pyron and Wiens (2011) , Zhang (2011a) , Pyron and Burbrink (2012) , Pyron et al. (2013) , Begal et al. ( 2007 ). or bromeliads. Nevertheless, relatively few species of soil animals have had their biology or ecology thoroughly studied up to now, and this lack of knowledge is exacerbated by the lack of active taxonomists in many groups and taxa of soil animals (particularly the micro-and meso-invertebrates), creating what has been called the taxonomic impediment ( Evenhuis, 2007 ;Hoagland, 1996 ). Due to the high specifi c richness present in many taxa, performing an inventory of the soil fauna diversity in a given location can be an arduous and complex task. ...
... We should mention that while the development of new concepts and approaches are indispensable, more taxonomists and more funding for taxonomy are also urgently needed. A stronger focus on actually publishing systematic revisions and species descriptions should be part of a strategy to help overcome the taxonomic impediment (Evenhuis 2007). In most cases, when new species are discovered, they are not systematically described (Pante et al. 2015). ...
Although new methods and data are conquering space in the field of taxonomy, such as integrative taxonomy, most terrestrial isopod species are still described based only on morphology. Species of the genus Atlantoscia Ferrara and Taiti, 1981 were the first and are the unique terrestrial isopods from the Neotropics for which a molecular phylogeny was already conducted. Previous results indicated that this genus could be paraphyletic, and a more detailed analysis would be required. Our aim was to reconstruct the phylogeny of Atlantoscia using mitochondrial and nuclear markers and test its monophyly by integrating molecular and morphological data. We observed that, indeed, Atlantoscia is paraphyletic. Atlantoscia ituberasensis Campos-Filho, Lisboa and Araujo, 2013 and Atlantoscia rubromarginata Araujo and Leistikow, 1999 were placed in a new genus of terrestrial isopods, Paratlantoscia gen. nov., together with a new species described in the present study, Paratlantoscia robusta sp. nov. The new genus is defined by the presence of specialized respiratory areas in the pleopod exopods and its validity is highly corroborated by molecular analyses and by biogeographic information. This study highlights the importance of multiple and complementary perspectives as a way to improve the quality of species hypothesis and associated descriptions.
... Integrative taxonomy delineates and describes species using multiple data sources (Pante, Schoelinck & Puillandre, 2015) by a three-step approach involving data acquisition, group circumscription, and species description and naming (Dayrat, 2005;Evenhuis, 2007). Finding discontinuous variation in one character is the first step leading to analysis of variation in others (Miller, 2007;Puillandre et al., 2012). ...
Relating type specimens to morphologically cryptic species is particularly vexing. When type specimens are small, fragmentary and sterile, resolution can seem intractable. In this study of the cryptic Plagiochila arbuscula complex, morphological evidence was reconsidered using geometric morphometric methods to gain insight into patterns of variation and differences in leaf shape between four phylogenetic lineages. The study had two aims: to achieve morphological circumscription of species and to attribute challenging type specimens to species. Considerable overlap in leaf shape among the four lineages was observed, but so were high levels of within-individual partitioning of leaf shape variation. Leaf shape exhibited a significant relationship with leaf size, and size was correlated with shoot order. The greatest leaf shape differences among species were manifest in leaves from primary shoots. In linear discriminant analysis, the highest cross-validation success rates for single leaves was achieved using primary shoot leaf shape
and so for nine challenging type specimens, the shape of primary shoot leaves was used to assign them to species. Twelve of 15 sampled type leaves were attributed to a single species with high probability, in agreement with subjective assessment. In the Plagiochila arbuscula complex historical type specimens can be related to groups circumscribed by integrated molecular and morphological evidence using the minimum of morphological evidence: the shape of single leaves.
... Integrative taxonomy delineates and describes species using multiple data sources (Pante, Schoelinck & Puillandre, 2015) by a three-step approach involving data acquisition, group circumscription, and species description and naming (Dayrat, 2005;Evenhuis, 2007). Finding discontinuous variation in one character is the first step leading to analysis of variation in others (Miller, 2007;Puillandre et al., 2012). ...
Relating type specimens to morphologically cryptic species is particularly vexing. When type specimens are small, fragmentary and sterile, resolution can seem intractable. In this study of the cryptic Plagiochila arbuscula complex, morphological evidence was reconsidered using geometric morphometric methods to gain insight into patterns of variation and differences in leaf shape between four phylogenetic lineages. The study had two aims: to achieve mor- phological circumscription of species and to attribute challenging type specimens to species. Considerable overlap in leaf shape among the four lineages was observed, but so were high levels of within-individual partitioning of leaf shape variation. Leaf shape exhibited a significant relationship with leaf size, and size was correlated with shoot order. The greatest leaf shape differences among species were manifest in leaves from primary shoots. In linear dis- criminant analysis, the highest cross-validation success rates for single leaves was achieved using primary shoot leaf shape and so for nine challenging type specimens, the shape of primary shoot leaves was used to assign them to species. Twelve of 15 sampled type leaves were attributed to a single species with high probability, in agreement with subjective assessment. In the Plagiochila arbuscula complex historical type specimens can be related to groups circumscribed by integrated molecular and morphological evidence using the minimum of morphological evidence: the shape of single leaves.
... The decline of funding from governmental and private agencies, and the tendency of students moving towards more in vogue and fancy areas of scientific investigation jeopardize the ability of the area to accomplish its goals and the urgent need of development (Lajus et al., 2015). The 'taxonomic impediment'i.e., the small and inadequate number of proficient taxonomists, and the consequential lack of keys and other resources for accurate identification -is a reality (Carvalho et al., 2005;Evenhuis, 2007) and may affect entomologists in general and dipterists in particular. At least one million insect species already have been described (Grimaldi & Engel, 2005;Scheffers et al., 2012), but the number of species awaiting for formal description, including their supraspecific taxa in the biological system, may still be up to millions, especially in the five megadiverse orders (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, and Diptera) (Scheffers et al., 2012;Hebert et al., 2016). ...
At least one million extant insect species have been described on Earth, of which 150,000 belong to the megadiverse order Diptera. We here synthesize data from the last 15 years of taxonomic work in Diptera, mapping the world taxonomic productivity in the order. Our data shows an increasing importance of China and Brazil in taxonomic production, along with other traditional centres such as the USA and Europe. We correlate our database with estimates of extinction rates to determine the amount of basic taxonomic research still necessary to have the description of the fly diversity before extinction. Due to the growing recent extinction rates, it is unlikely that we will be able to entirely describe unknown fly diversity before their demise. Even considering that is still a constant and increasing speed of new species description, raising the number of active dipterists in the world is an urgent priority and the only real solution.
... Owing to this inefficiency, many researchers consider descriptions as a nuisance (cf. Evenhuis, 2007) and, in some cases, have argued in favor of the delimitation of a taxon exclusively with molecular data (Hebert et al., 2003;Cook et al., 2010). Deans et al. (2012) mentions that the limited utility of descriptions may partially explain recurrent stagnation of funding and training of taxonomists (cf. ...
Taxonomists’ efforts throughout history provide significant amount of data that give support for establishing the specific identity of several groups of biological systems. In addition to identifying species, taxonomic research offers a wide range of biological information that can be used in other disciplines, e.g. evolution, ecology, integrated pest management. However, most of this information remains unappreciated due to certain aspects: (1) the advent of analytical tools have led to a shift in interest and investment in researches, focusing mainly in molecular studies; (2) the erroneous concept that the extensive data offered by taxonomic studies can be replaced by other datasets, separating it from its hypothesis-driven and investigative nature; (3) the final products found in taxonomic works are commonly restricted to a small group of researchers, due to its low accessibility and specific language. Considering this last aspect, web-based tools can be valuable to simplify the dissemination of the taxonomic product. Semantic annotation provide a condition in which species descriptions can be readily available and be far more extensive, enabling rapid exchange of countless data related to biological systems.
... Nevertheless, lack of public awareness for the scope of the work involved in documenting marine biodiversity is at least partly responsible for the relatively impoverished state of resources allocated for taxonomy and the natural history museums that house valuable marine biodiversity collections (Wheeler et al. 2004, Winston 2007. Without significantly increased support, the resulting taxonomic impediment (Hoagland 1996, Evenhuis 2007) is likely to persist. ...
... perspectives and Needs 8. Brown (2005) considered the problem of low activity and sparse taxonomic knowledge of the Diptera, with a special focus on the Neotropical Region. his comments fit into a larger discussion in the literature about the nature of systematics and of taxonomic information and its role in conservation (e.g., Cotterill 1995;Thiele & yeates 2002;Knapp et al. 2002;McNeely 2002;Godfray 2002Godfray , 2007Godfray & Knapp 2004;Janzen 2004;Blaxter 2004;M.R. Carvalho et al. 2005M.R. Carvalho et al. , 2007Wheeler 2005;DeSalle et al. 2005;ebach & holdrege 2005;evenhuis 2007;Santos & amorim 2007;Miller 2007). On one hand, there is an urgent need for funding for taxonomy and for using available systematic information for the purposes of conservation of the habitats that are being rapidly and irreversibly destroyed (Carvalho et al. 2008). ...
... However, taxonomists with specialist knowledge of the groups being investigated must always be part of area assessments, especially within biodiversity hotspots. Taxonomists are responsible for laying the foundations of conservation science (Evenhuis 2007), and when starting conservation projects the description of species should be considered. This consultancy report is a sobering example for biodiversity surveys in the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. ...
The island of Sri Lanka has a heritage of astonishing biodiversity of which comparatively little remains, restricted to small forest islands. Conservation efforts have been aided by many high-quality publications, while on the other hand inaccurate reports can present obstacles to effective efforts. Here we discuss inaccuracies in a report prepared for the Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, from which it is apparent that the consultants dominating conservation science do not appreciate the necessity of identifying species accurately, citing appropriate references, or updating their knowledge of current nomenclature and distribution of taxa. Conservation is an important national and international issue, and it is incumbent upon educators, conservation managers, legal advisors, funding agencies, officials and policy makers to work along with research scientists to ensure that inaccurate information does not endanger efforts to safeguard Sri Lanka’s remaining endangered biodiversity treasures. Towards this end, procedures for the conduct of conservation studies should be revised to incorporate input from researchers familiar with current knowledge and methods.
... the most diverse in the neotropics, surpassed only by the Hydroptilidae STEPHENS, 1836. The Hydropsychidae are divided into the subfamilies Diplectroninae ULMER, 1951, Hydropsychinae CURTIS, 1834, Macronematinae ULMER, 1905 and Smicrideinae FLINT, 1974. The Arctopsychidae are considered a subfamily of Hydropsychidae by some authors (HOLZENTHAL et al. 2007, MORSE 2012), and regarded as a distinct family by others (e.g. SCHMID 1968). In the Neotropical Region, the Macronematinae and Smicrideinae comprise 90% of the known species diversity in the family. These two groups cover the study organisms of this work. ...
... In maxillary palps when segment I is the shortest, segments II and IV equally long but longer than segments I and III, segment III longer than segment I but shorter than II and IV, segment V the longest, the maxillary palp formula is I-III-(II,IV)-V. We tried to standardize species descriptions according to Evenhuis (2007) to ensure consistently formatted and comparable template descriptions. ...
The following new species are described from the west coast of Sumatra (Indonesia): Dipseudopsis gabiana and Pseudoneureclipsis complexa (Dipseudopsidae); Psychomyia selatana and Tinodes kerinciana (Psychomyiidae); Nyctiophylax anryutah, N. kupirah, and N. tapan (Polycentropodidae); Diplectrona dimagaha, D. tiguna, Hydropsyche pulakita, and Cheumatopsyche urhpirdana (Hydropsychidae); and Oecetis barisan, Setodes pantangulil, S. trikuthia, and S. wirhal (Leptoceridae). In addition, the following species are recorded from Sumatra for the first time: Chimarra briseis Malicky (Philopotamidae); Ecnomus hendersoni Mosely (Ecnomidae); Diplectrona dulitensis Kimmins and Hydropsyche butes Malicky & Chantaramongkol (Hydropsychidae); and Ganonema ochraceellum (McLachlan) (Calamoceratidae). Fourteen more species are recorded, but are previously known from Sumatra.
... Species descriptions were standardized to ensure consistently formatted and comparable description according to EVENHUS (2007). The following terms were used to qualify the dimensions and extensions of genitalia structures: (1) short or long for length dimension on the longitudinal direction of coronal plane along the anteroposterior axis; (2) low or tall (traditionally shallow or deep especially for incisions) for height dimension on the vertical direction of the sagittal plane along the dorsoventral axis and (3) narrow or wide (broad) for width dimension on the lateral direction of the transversal plane along the mediolateral or left-right axis. ...
... Taxonomists are obsessed with species and their names, and they consider their work "done" only when the last specimen of the last sample has been bestowed with a species identifi cation. As a result, it takes years -many years -for taxonomists to deliver their results: this time lag is part of what has been called the "taxonomic impediment" (see, e.g., Evenhuis 2007, but see also Flowers 2007). Ten years, even fi ve years, is not a time frame that fares well in our age of immediacy: managers, funding bodies, decision makers, like to have "immediate" results. ...
... A pesar de estas nuevas herramientas, un gran número de autores han señalado en los últimos años que la crisis de la biodiversidad a nivel global está estrechamente asociada con una crisis de la taxonomía (Wilson, 1992;Chevalier et al., 1997;Godfray, 2002Godfray, , 2007Wilson, 2003;Raven, 2004;Wheeler et al., 2004;de Carvalho et al., 2005de Carvalho et al., , 2007Evenhuis, 2007;de Carvalho et al., 2008;Schweitzer, 2008). Esto contrasta con la visión de Costello et al. (2012de Costello et al. ( , 2013a, quienes defienden que ahora existen más taxónomos activos que nunca, y que a un buen ritmo de trabajo se puede describir una parte significativa de la biodiversidad antes de que ésta desaparezca. ...
En este capítulo revisamos algunos aspectos de esta “crisis de la Taxonomía”, identificando puntos críticos de la misma. Para ello, primero definimos qué es la Taxonomía, con una breve descripción de su desarrollo histórico. Además, identificamos quién la lleva a cabo, así como en qué grado son importantes unas u otras aproximaciones a esta disciplina. Hacemos una distinción entre los conceptos de Taxonomía, clasificación y sistemática para, posteriormente, describir la utilidad e importancia actual de esta disciplina para el avance de la ciencia en diferentes aspectos, y para su subsecuente aplicación práctica en múlti- ples áreas del conocimiento. Posteriormente, evaluamos el alcance de la crisis de la Taxonomía, eviden- ciando los conflictos más importantes que creemos existen en la actualidad y finalizamos proponiendo algunas estrategias que se deben priorizar, ya que aportan herramientas para gestionar una Taxonomía renovada de cara al futuro.
Taxonomy lays the foundations for the study of biodiversity and its conservation. Procrustean geometric morphometrics (GMM) is a most common technique for the taxonomic assessment of phenotypic population differences. To measure biological variation and detect evolutionarily significant units, GMM is often used on its own, although it is much more powerful with an integrative approach, in combination with molecular, ecological and behavioural data, as well as with meristic morphological traits. GMM is particularly effective in taxonomic research, when applied to 2D images, which are fast and low cost to obtain. Yet, taxonomists who may want to explore the usefulness of GMM are rarely experts in multivariate statistical analyses of size and shape differences. In these twin papers, I aim to provide a detailed step-by-step guideline to taxonomic analysis employing Procrustean GMM in user-friendly software (with tips for R users). In the first part (A) of the study, I will focus on preliminary analyses (mainly, measurement error, outliers and statistical power), which are fundamental for accuracy, but often neglected. I will also use this first paper, and its appendix (Appendix A), to informally introduce, and discuss, general topics in GMM and statistics, that are relevant to taxonomic applications. In the second part (B) of the work, I will move on to the main taxonomic analyses. Thus, I will show how to compare size and shape among groups, but I will also explore allometry and briefly examine differences in variance, as a potential clue to population bottlenecks in peripheral isolates. A large sample of North American marmot mandibles provides the example data (available online, for readers to replicate the study and practice with analyses). However, as this sample is larger than in previous studies and mostly unpublished, it also offers a chance to further explore the patterns of interspecific morphological variation in a group, that has been prominent in mammalian sociobiology, and whose evolutionary divergence is complex and only partially understood.
Evolution - both the fact that it occurred and the theory describing the mechanisms by which it occurred - is an intrinsic and central component in modern biology. Theodosius Dobzhansky captures this well in the much-quoted title of his 1973 paper 'Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution'. The correctness of this assertion is even more obvious today: philosophers of biology and biologists agree that the fact of evolution is undeniable and that the theory of evolution explains that fact. Such a theory has far-reaching implications. In this volume, eleven distinguished scholars address the conceptual, metaphysical and epistemological richness of the theory and its ethical and religious impact, exploring topics including DNA barcoding, three grand challenges of human evolution, functionalism, historicity, design, evolution and development, and religion and secular humanism. The volume will be of great interest to those studying philosophy of biology and evolutionary biology.
Nahe dem North River machten zwei Eichhörnchen um mich und über mir viel Wesen von sich; sie rannten hurtig von Baum zu Baum, sprangen von der Spitze eines Asts auf die eines anderen Asts am nächsten Baum, bis sie eine große Weißtanne erreicht und erklettert hatten. Ich näherte mich ihr und stellte mich unter sie, während die beiden einen großen Wirbel um mich veranstalteten. Eines kam schließlich ein Stück herunter, um zu rekognoszieren. 1 In seinen umfassenden Tagebüchern (18371861) erzählt der US-amerika-nische Naturphilosoph Henry David Thoreau von seinen Wanderungen durch die Felder und Haine um Concord im US-Bundesstaat Massachu-setts, wo er sich in einer kleinen Hütte am Waldon Pond eingerichtet hatte. Detailreich, mit viel Einfühlungsvermögen und gelegentlich exal-tiert beschreibt er seine Begegnungen mit Blumen, Gräsern, Sträuchern, Beeren, Schmetterlingen, Vögeln, Fischen, Käfern, Eichhörnchen und Bisamratten (hierzulande auch Sumpfhasen genannt) und schafft damit ein kurzweiliges Archiv zwischenartlicher Zusammenkünfte, das als eine der bedeutendsten Vorlagen der " ökologischen Imagination " gilt. 2 Beglei-tet werden Thoreaus Naturbeobachtungen von biophilen 3 und manchmal durchaus komischen Kommentaren (er fragt sich unter anderem, wie wohl das Schrifttum der Bisamratten und Bieber ausfallen würde) über die wundersamen Ausformungen seiner Umwelt und ihrer Vielfalt sowie von kritischen Überlegungen zur modernen Welt, die mit Eisenbahnen und wachsendem Kommerz nicht weit von seiner Hütte tatkräftig voran-schritt. Sowohl die Literaturkritik als auch die aufstrebende Umweltbe-wegung nahmen sich seines Werkes an; so war beispielsweise John Muir, einer der ersten umweltpolitischen Akteure, dessen Engagement 1864 zum ersten Naturschutzgebiet führte, stark von Thoreau und dessen Mit-streiter Ralph Waldo Emerson geprägt. Thoreau war aber auch ein para-digmatischer Naturwissenschaftler, der sich dem Erkunden seiner 1 Thoreau: Denken, S. 59. 2 Buell: Environmental Imagination, Cambridge 1995. 3 Für den Biologen E.O. Wilson (Biophilia, Cambridge 1984) beschreibt die Biophi-lie eine angeborene Veranlagung und ein elementares Bedürfnis, sich mit Lebens-formen und lebensnahen Prozessen zu beschäftigen.
In 2015, Pezold and Larson published a revision of the gobiid genus Oxyurichthys, and made an error in their use of the name O. uronema (Weber) for one of the species. The reasons for this would make a fine example of one of Evenhuis' taxonomic impediments to nirvana (2007). Pezold and Larson first considered collaborating on this work in 1983, but this did not happen until nearly a decade later. Intensive work began in 1996; by then Larson had examined syntypes of both species in 1988 and determined that Gobius uronema Weber, 1909, was the same species as Gobius longicauda Steindachner, 1893.
Ecologists and taxonomists have a common stake in the biodiversity enterprise but approach problems differently. Ecologists use structured designs to obtain multispecies samples and supporting information which they transform to data for analysis. Taxonomists obtain collections by less formal search, are specimen- rather than data-focused, target rare and undescribed species, and organize specimens and data by taxon with less attention to associated species and environmental data. Ecologists undervalue their contributions to taxonomic and distributional research. Taxonomists pass by the multispecies and negative occurrence data in collections. Complementarity of taxonomic and ecological approaches guarantees a stronger scientific product but effective collaboration requires continuing reciprocal involvement by both parties.
Please download the chapter at URL:
http://ainfo.cnptia.embrapa.br/digital/bitstream/item/129844/1/GeorgeB-LivroServicosAmbientais.pdf
Additions to the taxonomy of the leptoceroid families Calamoceratidae, Molannidae, Odontoceridae, and Philorheithridae are given, and 33 new species in the superfamily are described based on characters in the male genitalia, head and thoracal setose warts, and groove patterns, wing venation, and forewing colour and pattern. In the Molannidae Wallengren, a single new species, Molanna gamdaha, is described from Myanmar. In the Odontoceridae Wallengren, the genus Inthanopsyche Malicky is synonymized with Psilotreta Banks. The following 14species belonging to previously described genera, are described as new: Lannapsyche birathena (Myanmar), L. suksma (Myanmar), L. kamba (Myanmar), Marilia enikiana (Laos PDR), M. jonssoni (Laos PDR), M. katakaha (Malaysia), M. malickyi (Laos PDR, Malaysia, Vietnam), M. mendolonga (Malaysia), M. namha (Laos PDR), M. tuyetmira (Laos PDR), Phraepsyche pectinata (Vietnam), P. yitungshana (China: Hong Kong), Psilotreta enikoae (Vietnam), and P. malickyi (Myanmar). In addition, the following 3 diagnostic species-groups are described for the first time: Psilotreta japonica diagnostic species-group, Psilotreta trimeresuri diagnostic species-group, and Psilotreta frontalis diagnostic species group. The species Ganonema odaenum Kobayshi is synonymized with Psilotreta locumtenens Botosaneanu, and Psilotreta pyonga Olah is synonymized with P. falcula Botosaneanu. In the Philotheithridae Mosely, a single new species, Psilopsyche granda, is described from Chile. In addition to describing new taxa, new species records for 34 species in the superfamily are presented.
In their Editorial “Eaxonomy: impediment or expedient?”, Q. D. Wheeler et al. make a strong case for the internationalization of taxonomy through a cyber-infrastructure that would give taxonomists and museums access to the right tools for documenting species diversity (16 Jan., p. [285][1]).
Society has a growing need for credible taxonomic information in order to allow us to conserve, manage, understand, and enjoy the natural world. At the same time support for tax- onomy and collections is failing to keep pace. Funds nominally allocated to taxonomy go largely to reconstruct molecular phylogenies, while thousands of species are threatened by im- minent extinction. Ecologists working in the tropics have felt this lack of taxonomic knowl- edge as an impediment that inhibits their ability to analyze community-level phenomena. It is time to evaluate the sources of this impediment and address them. Taxonomy must facilitate, not obstruct biodiversity studies and conservation. Existing taxonomic practices have served us well for centuries, but are clearly inadequate for the chal- lenge at hand. The taxonomic community must rally around a common vision, critically evalu- ate its needs, set an ambitious research agenda, embrace emerging technologies, and univocally communicate its aspirations. This will require a major change in approach, engaging individual scholars, professional societies, and institutions. Molecular data, abundant and inexpensive, have revolutionized phylogenetics but not diminished the importance of traditional work. Mor-
Although I wholeheartedly concur with the vital message in Q. D. Wheeler et al. 's Editorial “Taxonomy: impediment or expedient?” (16 Jan., p. [285][1]), I would also argue the case for natural history. A taxonomic understanding of biodiversity is clearly an essential complement to the study of
The possibilities for dramatically improving taxonomic output painted by Q. D. Wheeler et al. in their Editorial (“Taxonomy: impediment or expedient?”, 16 Jan., p. [285][1]) are exciting and necessary. However, unless these technical enhancements are matched by sociological changes by both
Q. D. Wheeler et al. argue for a redefinition of the role and job of taxonomists in order “to create a legacy of knowledge for a planet that is soon to be decimated” (“Taxonomy: impediment or expedient?”, Editorial, 16 Jan., p. [285][1]). At some time in the past, scientists, and by
The taxonomic impediment to conservation. The Weta
- H F Reder
- G W Ramsay
Revisiting the taxonomic impediment
- G Nelson
- D Causey
- D H Janzen
- A T Peterson
- V Vieglais
- L Krishtalka
The taxonomic impediment and the Convention of
- M D Burkenroad
- K E Hoagland
Submission to the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Social Environment Inquiry into the impact on the Australasian environment of the current Woodchip Industry Programme
- J H Cody
- R W Taylor
Taxonomy: impediment or expedient? Science, 303, 285
- E O Wilson