[Taxacom] Taxonomic output study

[Stephen Thorpe]

I haven't read the paper yet, but does "non-professional taxonomist" include retired professionals and/or research associate types like myself who do paid work now and again related to their taxonomic interests, but are not strictly professional taxonomists? It goes without saying that, in todays world, more and more time of professional taxonomists (sensu stricto) gets diverted into other things than just straight taxonomy ...
?
Stephen

From: Chris Thompson <xelaalex at cox.net>
To: Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>; Bob Mesibov <mesibov at southcom.com.au>; TAXACOM <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> 
Sent: Sunday, 27 May 2012 12:58 AM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Taxonomic output study

Yes, Stephen,

you are right on that.

Note the sentence "More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists."

The problem here, these "non-professional taxonomists" do not do revisionary work. They merely find what appears to be a new species, that is, something that does not conform to the species a identification guide, etc. BUT they never take the time and effort to see whether that "new" species had been previously described and incorrectly synonymized.

Years ago I wrote a paper where I showed a "non-professional taxonomist" at the turn of the last century (1900) lumped all the species in a genus as only color variants. Then a half century later workers discovered characters among the male genitalia, so therefore there was a lots of "new species."

But then again, a taxonomist once declared "once a synonym, ALWAYS a synonym!"

Chris

-----Original Message----- From: Stephen Thorpe
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 8:06 PM
To: Bob Mesibov ; TAXACOM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Taxonomic output study

clearly, this is a more realistic assessment of global biodiversity than some other recent efforts, so that is good ...

on the negative side, until such a time that all data in Zoological Record (and elsewhere) are publicly accessible in an integrated taxonomic format (i.e. with all valid taxa and their synonyms set out), the data upon which this paper is based will never really be verifiable in practice ...

Stephen


________________________________
From: Bob Mesibov <mesibov at southcom.com.au>
To: TAXACOM <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Saturday, 26 May 2012 11:29 AM
Subject: [Taxacom] Taxonomic output study

Fontaine B, van Achterberg K, Alonso-Zarazaga MA, Araujo R, Asche M, et al. (2012) New Species in the Old World: Europe as a Frontier in Biodiversity
Exploration, a Test Bed for 21st Century Taxonomy. PLoS ONE 7(5): e36881. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036881

Abstract
The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More
remarkably, over 60% of
these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.
-- Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
Ph: (03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195
Webpage: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/?articleIDW0

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