Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation

Thomson, Scott A.; Pyle, Richard L.; Ahyong, Shane T.; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel; Ammirati, Joe; Araya, Juan Francisco; Ascher, John S.; Audisio, Tracy Lynn; Azevedo-Santos, Valter M.; Bailly, Nicolas; Baker, William J.; Balke, Michael; Barclay, Maxwell V.L.; Barrett, Russell L.; Benine, Ricardo C.; Bickerstaff, James R.M.; Bouchard, Patrice; Bour, Roger; Bourgoin, Thierry; Boyko, Christopher B.; Breure, Abraham S.H.; Brothers, Denis J.; Byng, James W.; Campbell, David; Ceríaco, Luis M.P.; Cernák, István; Cerretti, Pierfilippo; Chang, Chih-Han; Cho, Soowon; Copus, Joshua M.; Costello, Mark J.; Cseh, Andras; Csuzdi, Csaba; Culham, Alastair; D’Elía, Guillermo; d’Udekem d’Acoz, Cédric; Daneliya, Mikhail E.; Dekker, René; Dickinson, Edward C.; Dickinson, Timothy A.; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B.; Dima, Bálint; Dmitriev, Dmitry A.; Duistermaat, Leni; Dumbacher, John P.; Eiserhardt, Wolf L.; Ekrem, Torbjørn; Evenhuis, Neal L.; Faille, Arnaud; Fernández-Triana, José L.; Fiesler, Emile; Fishbein, Mark; Fordham, Barry G.; Freitas, André V.L.; Friol, Natália R.; Fritz, Uwe; Frøslev, Tobias; Funk, Vicki A.; Gaimari, Stephen D.; Garbino, Guilherme S.T.; Garraffoni, André R.S.; Geml, József; Gill, Anthony C.; Gray, Alan; Grazziotin, Felipe G.; Greenslade, Penelope; Gutiérrez, Eliécer E.; Harvey, Mark S.; Hazevoet, Cornelis J.; He, Kai; He, Xiaolan; Helfer, Stephan; Helgen, Kristofer M.; van Heteren, Anneke H.; Hita Garcia, Francisco; Holstein, Norbert; Horváth, Margit K.; Hovenkamp, Peter H.; Hwang, Wei Song; Hyvönen, Jaakko; Islam, Melissa B.; Iverson, John B.; Ivie, Michael A.; Jaafar, Zeehan; Jackson, Morgan D.; Jayat, J. Pablo; Johnson, Norman F.; Kaiser, Hinrich; Klitgård, Bente B.; Knapp, Dániel G.; Kojima, Jun-ichi; Kõljalg, Urmas; Kontschán, Jenő; Krell, Frank-Thorsten; Krisai-Greilhuber, Irmgard; Kullander, Sven; Latella, Leonardo; Lattke, John E.; Lencioni, Valeria; Lewis, Gwilym P.; Lhano, Marcos G.; Lujan, Nathan K.; Luksenburg, Jolanda A.; Mariaux, Jean; Marinho-Filho, Jader; Marshall, Christopher J.; Mate, Jason F.; McDonough, Molly M.; Michel, Ellinor; Miranda, Vitor F.O.; Mitroiu, Mircea-Dan; Molinari, Jesús; Monks, Scott; Moore, Abigail J.; Moratelli, Ricardo; Murányi, Dávid; Nakano, Takafumi; Nikolaeva, Svetlana; Noyes, John; Ohl, Michael; Oleas, Nora H.; Orrell, Thomas; Páll-Gergely, Barna; Pape, Thomas; Papp, Viktor; Parenti, Lynne R.; Patterson, David; Pavlinov, Igor Ya.; Pine, Ronald H.; Poczai, Péter; Prado, Jefferson; Prathapan, Divakaran; Rabeler, Richard K.; Randall, John E.; Rheindt, Frank E.; Rhodin, Anders G.J.; Rodríguez, Sara M.; Rogers, D. Christopher; Roque, Fabio de O.; Rowe, Kevin C.; Ruedas, Luis A.; Salazar-Bravo, Jorge; Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Sangster, George; Sarmiento, Carlos E.; Schigel, Dmitry S.; Schmidt, Stefan; Schueler, Frederick W.; Segers, Hendrik; Snow, Neil; Souza-Dias, Pedro G.B.; Stals, Riaan; Stenroos, Soili; Stone, R. Douglas; Sturm, Charles F.; Štys, Pavel; Teta, Pablo; Thomas, Daniel C.; Timm, Robert M.; Tindall, Brian J.; Todd, Jonathan A.; Triebel, Dagmar; Valdecasas, Antonio G.; Vizzini, Alfredo; Vorontsova, Maria S.; de Vos, Jurriaan M.; Wagner, Philipp; Watling, Les; Weakley, Alan; Welter-Schultes, Francisco; Whitmore, Daniel; Wilding, Nicholas; Will, Kipling; Williams, Jason; Wilson, Karen; Winston, Judith E.; Wüster, Wolfgang; Yanega, Douglas; Yeates, David K.; Zaher, Hussam; Zhang, Guanyang; Zhang, Zhi-Qiang; Zhou, Hong-Zhang

Thomson, Scott A.; Pyle, Richard L.; Ahyong, Shane T.; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel; Ammirati, Joe; Araya, Juan Francisco; Ascher, John S.; Audisio, Tracy Lynn; Azevedo-Santos, Valter M.; Bailly, Nicolas; Baker, William J.; Balke, Michael; Barclay, Maxwell V.L.; Barrett, Russell L.; Benine, Ricardo C.; Bickerstaff, James R.M.; Bouchard, Patrice; Bour, Roger; Bourgoin, Thierry; Boyko, Christopher B.; Breure, Abraham S.H.; Brothers, Denis J.; Byng, James W.; Campbell, David; Ceríaco, Luis M.P.; Cernák, István; Cerretti, Pierfilippo; Chang, Chih-Han; Cho, Soowon; Copus, Joshua M.; Costello, Mark J.; Cseh, Andras; Csuzdi, Csaba; Culham, Alastair; D’Elía, Guillermo; d’Udekem d’Acoz, Cédric; Daneliya, Mikhail E.; Dekker, René; Dickinson, Edward C.; Dickinson, Timothy A.; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B.; Dima, Bálint; Dmitriev, Dmitry A.; Duistermaat, Leni; Dumbacher, John P.; Eiserhardt, Wolf L.; Ekrem, Torbjørn; Evenhuis, Neal L.; Faille, Arnaud; Fernández-Triana, José L.; Fiesler, Emile; Fishbein, Mark; Fordham, Barry G.; Freitas, André V.L.; Friol, Natália R.; Fritz, Uwe; Frøslev, Tobias; Funk, Vicki A.; Gaimari, Stephen D.; Garbino, Guilherme S.T.; Garraffoni, André R.S.; Geml, József; Gill, Anthony C.; Gray, Alan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6785-0590; Grazziotin, Felipe G.; Greenslade, Penelope; Gutiérrez, Eliécer E.; Harvey, Mark S.; Hazevoet, Cornelis J.; He, Kai; He, Xiaolan; Helfer, Stephan; Helgen, Kristofer M.; van Heteren, Anneke H.; Hita Garcia, Francisco; Holstein, Norbert; Horváth, Margit K.; Hovenkamp, Peter H.; Hwang, Wei Song; Hyvönen, Jaakko; Islam, Melissa B.; Iverson, John B.; Ivie, Michael A.; Jaafar, Zeehan; Jackson, Morgan D.; Jayat, J. Pablo; Johnson, Norman F.; Kaiser, Hinrich; Klitgård, Bente B.; Knapp, Dániel G.; Kojima, Jun-ichi; Kõljalg, Urmas; Kontschán, Jenő; Krell, Frank-Thorsten; Krisai-Greilhuber, Irmgard; Kullander, Sven; Latella, Leonardo; Lattke, John E.; Lencioni, Valeria; Lewis, Gwilym P.; Lhano, Marcos G.; Lujan, Nathan K.; Luksenburg, Jolanda A.; Mariaux, Jean; Marinho-Filho, Jader; Marshall, Christopher J.; Mate, Jason F.; McDonough, Molly M.; Michel, Ellinor; Miranda, Vitor F.O.; Mitroiu, Mircea-Dan; Molinari, Jesús; Monks, Scott; Moore, Abigail J.; Moratelli, Ricardo; Murányi, Dávid; Nakano, Takafumi; Nikolaeva, Svetlana; Noyes, John; Ohl, Michael; Oleas, Nora H.; Orrell, Thomas; Páll-Gergely, Barna; Pape, Thomas; Papp, Viktor; Parenti, Lynne R.; Patterson, David; Pavlinov, Igor Ya.; Pine, Ronald H.; Poczai, Péter; Prado, Jefferson; Prathapan, Divakaran; Rabeler, Richard K.; Randall, John E.; Rheindt, Frank E.; Rhodin, Anders G.J.; Rodríguez, Sara M.; Rogers, D. Christopher; Roque, Fabio de O.; Rowe, Kevin C.; Ruedas, Luis A.; Salazar-Bravo, Jorge; Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Sangster, George; Sarmiento, Carlos E.; Schigel, Dmitry S.; Schmidt, Stefan; Schueler, Frederick W.; Segers, Hendrik; Snow, Neil; Souza-Dias, Pedro G.B.; Stals, Riaan; Stenroos, Soili; Stone, R. Douglas; Sturm, Charles F.; Štys, Pavel; Teta, Pablo; Thomas, Daniel C.; Timm, Robert M.; Tindall, Brian J.; Todd, Jonathan A.; Triebel, Dagmar; Valdecasas, Antonio G.; Vizzini, Alfredo; Vorontsova, Maria S.; de Vos, Jurriaan M.; Wagner, Philipp; Watling, Les; Weakley, Alan; Welter-Schultes, Francisco; Whitmore, Daniel; Wilding, Nicholas; Will, Kipling; Williams, Jason; Wilson, Karen; Winston, Judith E.; Wüster, Wolfgang; Yanega, Douglas; Yeates, David K.; Zaher, Hussam; Zhang, Guanyang; Zhang, Zhi-Qiang; Zhou, Hong-Zhang. 2018 Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation. PLoS Biology, 16 (3), e2005075. 12, pp. 10.1371/journal.pbio.2005075

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Abstract

Taxonomy is a scientific discipline that has provided the universal naming and classification
system of biodiversity for centuries and continues effectively to accommodate new knowledge.
A recent publication by Garnett and Christidis expressed concerns regarding the difficulty
that taxonomic changes represent for conservation efforts and proposed the establishment of a
system to govern taxonomic changes. Their proposal to "restrict the freedom of taxonomic
action" through governing subcommittees that would "review taxonomic papers for compliance" and their assertion that "the scientific community's failure to govern taxonomy threatens
the effectiveness of global efforts to halt biodiversity loss, damages the credibility of science,
and is expensive to society" are flawed in many respects. They also assert that the lack of governance
of taxonomy damages conservation efforts, harms the credibility of science, and is costly
to society. Despite its fairly recent release, Garnett and Christidis' proposition has already been
rejected by a number of colleagues. Herein, we contribute to the conversation
between taxonomists and conservation biologists aiming to clarify some misunderstandings
and issues in the proposition by Garnett and Christidis.

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