Relationship of taxonomic error to frequency of observation

Abstract

Biological nomenclature is the entry point to a wealth of information related to or associated with living entities. When applied accurately and consistently, communication between and among researchers and investigators is enhanced, leading to advancements in understanding and progress in research programs. Based on freshwater benthic macroinvertebrate taxonomic identifications, inter-laboratory comparisons of >900 samples taken from rivers, streams, and lakes across the U.S., including the Great Lakes, provided data on taxon-specific error rates. Using the error rates in combination with frequency of observation (FREQ; as a surrogate for rarity), six uncertainty/frequency classes (UFC) are proposed for approximately 1,000 taxa. The UFC, error rates, FREQ each are potentially useful for additional analyses related to interpreting biological assessment results and/or stressor response relationships, as weighting factors for various aspects of ecological condition or biodiversity analyses and helping set direction for taxonomic research and refining identification tools.

finsyncR, an R package to synchronize 27 years of fish and invertebrate data across the United States

“…First, we limit USGS identification to the genus-level to make the EPA and USGS data comparable. Second, species-level identifications of some groups of macroinvertebrates are inherently difficult to make 8 , so we limit identifications to the genus-level to avoid potentially inaccurate identifications.…”

“…Sites can also be linked to land use data within watersheds or catchments. The resulting output datasets span 27 years (1993 to 2019) and include 8,115 total unique sites (4,918 for fish and 7,789 for macroinvertebrates), 15,169 sampling events (8,193 for fish and 12,743 for macroinvertebrates), and 963 macroinvertebrate genera and 687 fish species (Fig. 2 and 3).…”

“…Lumped Genera Group Lowest Common Taxonomic Designation Acentrella 1108 1269 1,2,4,5,6,8,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,21,22,23,25,26,27,28,29,31,32,33,34,35,40,41,42,44,45,46,49,51,52,53,58,59,61,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,74,75,76,77,78,80 Ephemeroptera Acerpenna 651 283 1,2,4,…”