Impediments to taxonomy and users of taxonomy: accessibility and impact evaluation

Abstract

There has been much discussion of the ''taxonomic impediment''. This phrase confuses two kinds of impediment: an impediment to end users imposed by lack of reliable information; and impediments to taxonomy itself, which vary from insufficient funding to low citation rates of taxonomic monographs. In order to resolve both these types of impediment, taxonomy needs to be revitalized through funding and training taxonomists, as well as investing in taxonomic revisions and monographs rather than technological surrogates such as DNA barcoding.

First record of Chomelia triflora (J.H. Kirkbr.) Delprete & Achille (Rubiaceae) from Brazil

“…It is conceivable that C. triflora could in fact occur in small populations in other unsampled forest fragments between the two sites. The time gap of 60 years between the collection and correct identification of Chomelia triflora, a 4-meter tall treelet, indicates that improving sampling efforts and training more taxonomists, especially in a country of continental dimensions such as Brazil, should be the key to reverse the taxonomic impediment in the Brazilian Amazon (Schum et al 2007, Bortolus 2008, Ebach et al 2011, Thomas et al 2012.…”

Insect taxonomy, biodiversity research and the new taxonomic impediments

“…But the apparent ease to obtain data on species identification and on overall biodiversity measurement using molecular tools, recently generated also the misinterpreted illusion in the public opinion, in some ecologists and molecular biologists, as well as in several policy makers, that "traditional" taxonomy could be almost completely overcome and put apart by the use of these new revolutionary tools, even completely bypassing the need of "tedious" skills such as those of morphologically-based taxonomists and entomologists (Wheeler et al 2004;Ebach et al 2011). …”

“…In this general scenario, several authors recently discussed appropriately about the so-called Taxonomic Impediment, i.e., the lack or the marked shortage, in several countries, of qualified professionals or amateur taxonomists and of financial resources in the field of alpha-taxonomy, the necessary first-level approach to every biodiversity study (Giangrande 2003, Wheeler et al 2004De Carvalho et al 2007;Wheeler 2008;Ebach et al 2011). This is certainly true, although (in some more countries at least) both the overall number of taxonomists and the public financial resources available to them have shown a slight increase in the last few years, due to the growing demand of knowledge on management of biodiversity resources and their conservation (Boero 2001;Rodman et al 2003;Agnarsson & Kuntner 2007).…”

Optimising Capture Methods for the Evaluation of Parasitoid Wasp Diversity

“…The sustained, gradual decline of funding, expertise, and academic prestige associated with taxonomy is widely documented, and causing serious concern amongst international agencies and biodiversity scientists (Ebach et al, 2011;Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2007;de Carvalho et al, 2014;Wheeler, 2008b;Kim & Byrne, 2006). The secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (2008) stated that although taxonomic information underpins an awareness of 46 biodiversity and drives policy decisions relating to its management, decades of decline have severely weakened taxonomic capability around the world.…”