Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation

Italian Botanist

We present an updated list of the vascular flora occurring on Elba island (Tuscan Archipelago). The list is based on bibliographic analysis and field studies carried out in the years 2006–2018. With a total of 1,098 specific and subspecific taxa currently occurring on the island (including 101 naturalized aliens), plus 67 casual aliens and 16 hybrid taxa, Elba shows the highest number of species among the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago. Two taxa are new for Tuscany: Hieraciumsymphytaceum s.l. and Ophrysexaltatasubsp.morisii; 22 taxa are new for the island, 34 have been confirmed, while 326 were reliably recorded previously by other authors, but not confirmed by our study. We excluded 41 taxa and considered doubtful the occurrence of 87. Life forms and chorotypes are in agreement with the Mediterranean climate of the island. Despite this, Elba also hosts a considerable proportion of Eurosiberian taxa. We detected significant differences in chorotypes and life forms spectra among d...

PLOS Biology

Global biodiversity loss is a profound consequence of human activity. Disturbingly, biodiversity loss is greater than realized because of the unknown number of undocumented species. Conservation fundamentally relies on taxonomic recognition of species, but only a fraction of biodiversity is described. Here, we provide a new quantitative approach for prioritizing rigorous taxonomic research for conservation. We implement this approach in a highly diverse vertebrate group—Australian lizards and snakes. Of 870 species assessed, we identified 282 (32.4%) with taxonomic uncertainty, of which 17.6% likely comprise undescribed species of conservation concern. We identify 24 species in need of immediate taxonomic attention to facilitate conservation. Using a broadly applicable return-on-investment framework, we demonstrate the importance of prioritizing the fundamental work of identifying species before they are lost.

PeerJ, 2018

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the world's most iconic coral reef ecosystem, recognised internationally as a World Heritage Area of outstanding significance. Safeguarding the biodiversity of this universally important reef is a core legislative objective; however, ongoing cumulative impacts including widespread coral bleaching and other detrimental impacts have heightened conservation concerns for the future of the GBR. Here we review the literature to report on processes threatening species on the GBR, the status of marine biodiversity, and evaluate the extent of species-level monitoring and reporting. We assess how many species are listed as threatened at a global scale and explore whether these same species are protected under national threatened species legislation. We conclude this review by providing future directions for protecting potentially endangered elements of biodiversity within the GBR. Most of the threats identified to be harming the diversity of marine life on ...

Organisms Diversity & Evolution

A global consensus list of the world's species must be based on the best available taxonomic research, and its contents should not be biased towards certain political or social aims. At the same time, users of any global list must be involved or consulted in its establishment to ensure that the list meets their needs. This paper argues that while these two desiderata-independence and inclusion-might seem to be in conflict, they are in fact compatible. More precisely, it suggests the roles taxonomists and users could play in establishing and maintaining a global consensus list to make sure that this list is both inclusive and independent.

Organisms Diversity & Evolution

Governance is the act of governing or organizing, that is a system of rules, norms, or shared strategies to guide or regulate the actions of the governed. Since the initial development of Linnaean taxonomy, a diversity of approaches have been adopted for critical taxonomic decisions, introducing pluralism to taxonomic principles and resulting in disagreements about the development of species lists. These disagreements are in part a product of the fragmented governance structure that has developed for the creation of taxonomic lists. To address these challenges and achieve the goal of a single, accepted list of life on Earth, a new governance structure for the development of taxonomic lists is needed. Here, we introduce three high-level categories of governance structure-fragmentation, monocentric governance, and polycentric governance-which differ in the way decision-making power is distributed and coordinated. We then show the problems caused by the fragmented governance structure currently in place for the development of taxonomic lists and consider the potential for a new approach grounded in either monocentric or polycentric governance. Both monocentric and polycentric approaches have the potential to address the problems inherent in the existing fragmented system. Ultimately, the best governance system for taxonomic lists will be the one that the taxonomic community is prepared to accept.

PeerJ

In 2010, the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed on the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As this plan approaches its end, we discussed whether marine biodiversity and prediction studies were nearing the Aichi Targets during the 4th World Conference on Marine Biodiversity held in Montreal, Canada in June 2018. This article summarises the outcome of a five-day group discussion on how global marine biodiversity studies should be focused further to better understand the patterns of biodiversity. We discussed and reviewed seven fundamental biodiversity priorities related to nine Aichi Targets focusing on global biodiversity discovery and predictions to improve and enhance biodiversity data standards (quantity and quality), tools and techniques, spatial and temporal scale framing, and stewardship and dissemination. We discuss how identifying biodiversity knowledge gaps and promoting efforts have and will reduce su...

Fottea, 2021

During a survey on freshwater epilithic diatoms from subtropical lotic environments belonging to the Cascavel River microbasin, Paraná State, Brazil, we observed populations of a new Nupela Vyverman et Compère species. Morphological and meristic analyses were performed using light and scanning electron microscopy, resulting in the description of Nupela semifasciata sp. nov. This species is characterized by elliptic-lanceolate valves containing subcapitate apices in larger individuals and broadly rostrate-rounded apices in smaller ones, while the length/width ratio gradually decreases as the individuals become smaller. The central area unilaterally reaches the margin and always interrupts the row of areolae on the valve mantle. The valve mantle is externally composed of a second row of areolae near the apices. We cross-checked information with similar Nupela taxa, highlighting the main features that separate them. Nupela semifasciata was found in streams with acidic-neutral pH, low conductivity and low to high nutrient concentrations.

2020

The phylogenetic utility of targeted enrichment methods has been demonstrated in taxa that often have a history of single gene marker development. These genomic capture methods are now being applied to resolve evolutionary relationships from deep to shallow timescales in clades that were previously deficient in molecular marker development and lacking robust morphological characters that reflect evolutionary relationships. Effectively capturing 1000s of loci, however, in a diverse group across a broad time scale requires a bait set that incorporates multiple baits per locus. We redesigned a custom bait set for the cnidarian class Anthozoa to target 1,436 UCE loci and 1,572 exon regions within the subclass Hexacorallia. We test this redesigned bait set on 99 specimens of hard corals (Scleractinia) spanning both the “complex” (Acroporidae, Agariciidae) and “robust” (Fungiidae) clades. With focused sampling in the staghorn coral genus Acropora we explore the ability of capture data to ...

Conservation Biology, 2021

The taxonomy of wildlife offenses facilitates legal analyses, including the comparison of offenses across jurisdictions.

Scientific Reports, 2021

Effective conservation requires maintenance of the processes underlying species divergence, as well as understanding species’ responses to episodic disturbances and long-term change. We explored genetic population structure at a previously unrecognized spatial scale in seabirds, focusing on fine-scale isolation between colonies, and identified two distinct genetic clusters of Barau’s Petrels (Pterodroma baraui) on Réunion Island (Indian Ocean) corresponding to the sampled breeding colonies separated by 5 km. This unexpected result was supported by long-term banding and was clearly linked to the species’ extreme philopatric tendencies, emphasizing the importance of philopatry as an intrinsic barrier to gene flow. This implies that loss of a single colony could result in the loss of genetic variation, impairing the species’ ability to adapt to threats in the long term. We anticipate that these findings will have a pivotal influence on seabird research and population management, focusi...

Biota Neotropica, 2019

We present here an embracing freshwater fish inventory of the Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses and adjacent areas, reporting 49 fish species, 33 of which were identified accurately at the species level, representing ten orders and 25 fish families that range from obligate freshwater to estuarine organisms. This number of species is much larger than two previous studies for the park, each reporting just 12 and 33 fishes occurring on freshwater environments. Among the 49 freshwater species recorded in this study, 14 are new records for the Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses, and just one corresponds to an introduced species. Some of the 14 new records in the Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses, cited above, as well as some of the 16 species which we are not able to identify accurately at the species level, could include undescribed species, but more study is necessary before sorting out which species are truly undescribed, and which are already described ones. The orders reported by this survey which comprise the highest percentage of species richness, excluding introduced species, were: Characiformes, Cichliformes and Siluriformes, in the same ranking position, and Gymnotiformes, as expected for Neotropical freshwater surveys. The families with the highest number of species, excluding non-native species, were: Characidae, followed by Cichlidae, and Loricariidae. Out of the 33 species herein identified accurately at the species level, five of them are species typically found in brackish water environments, and when occurring on freshwater environments, are restricted mainly to estuaries, or, occasionally, the lower portions of the rivers. Thus, we will not address them in our biogeographical comments. From the remaining 28 species, eight did not occur in the Amazon River basin, six of them being endemic to the Maranhão-Piauí ecoregion. The remaining species herein reported also have their distribution recorded for the Amazon River basin, which shows the great influence of the Amazon basin. In the last two decades efforts to inventory the freshwater fish fauna and to taxonomically solve some groups occurring on the Maranhão state have been made. However the knowledge regarding the composition of the Maranhão freshwater fishes is still insufficient and underestimated, with several groups still lacking adequate taxonomic and systematic resolution, and with many gaps of knowledge, something that is not appropriate for our current picture of "biodiversity crisis". As well as, the other Brazilian protected areas, the PNLM fails to preserve its freshwater environment properly, since it includes only fragments of the major river systems of the area, not including and conserving the hole river drainages, mainly excluding their headwaters. Thus, its water bodies are exposed to typical human impacts.

Organisms Diversity & Evolution, 2021

Taxonomy-the delimitation, naming, classification and documentation of species and other taxa-is an often-misunderstood discipline. Complex and at times contested, taxonomy occupies a sometimes discomforting intermediate position on a continuum from descriptive to hypothetico-deductive science. Two aspects of taxonomy that are striking to many observers and users are the degree to which taxonomists often disagree, and the degree of taxonomic revisionism (the replacement of one taxonomic classification with another, exemplified by the phrase 'taxonomists are always changing the names of things'). Disagreements between taxonomists do not usually indicate taxonomic confusion or chaos, but rather often represent valid disagreements over the best, most effective and most meaningful way to interpret, describe and classify one of the most complex systems that scientists seek to describe and characterise-the patterns of variation of life on Earth. One way to partially manage disagreements among taxonomists is to develop a mechanism to synthesise the flux of taxonomic activity into agreed, broadly accepted, authoritative and scientifically robust global lists of the world's species and other taxa. A sound understanding of some aspects of the nature of taxonomy is needed to appreciate the opportunities, complexities and limitations of the development and maintenance of such lists. This article is part of the Special Issue and Topical Collection Towards a global list of accepted species

2018

There is increasing concern about the decline of pollinators worldwide. However, despite reports that pollinator declines are widespread, data are scarce and often geographically and taxonomically biased. These biases limit robust inference about any potential pollinator crisis. Non-structured and opportunistic historical specimen collection data provide the only source of historical information which can serve as a baseline for identifying pollinator declines. Specimens historically collected and preserved in museums not only provide information on where and when species were collected, but also contain other ecological information such as species interactions and morphological traits. Here, we provide a synthesis of how researchers have used historical data to identify long-term changes in biodiversity, species abundances, morphology and pollination services. Despite recent advances, we show that information on the status and trends of most pollinators is absent, but we highlight ...

Primates, 2019

In a recent article, Silva et al. (Zool Scr 47:133-143, 2018) proposed the relocation of the dwarf marmoset, Mico humilis, to the so far unrecognized genus Callibella. We contend that a taxonomic scheme that recognizes Callibella as if it were a valid genus is inadequately supported, and to some extent contradicted, by the ecological and morphological information provided by the authors. We discuss why the criterion of sympatry, invoked by Silva et al. to justify the recognition of Callibella at the genus level, is uninformative for taxonomic decisions above the species level. We also show that the morphological characteristics used by Silva et al. to separate Mico humilis from the other Mico are individually variable and present in every analyzed species of the genus. Moreover, we demonstrate that the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) metric, employed by those authors to attempt to justify their taxonomic proposition, makes no sense in a taxonomic context. Conceptually, the use of autapomorphies and plesiomorphies to justify using Callibella goes against one of the main objectives of a meaningful classification, that is, to allow for all kinds of inferences based on previous observations (i.e., to be inductively projectible). Based on these arguments, we demonstrate that regarding Callibella as a subgenus of Mico is the most suitable way of making the Linnean taxonomy of marmosets congruent with the phylogenetic information available for the group.

Ecology and Evolution, 2019

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2021

Self-published taxon descriptions, bereft of a basis of evidence, are a long-standing problem in taxonomy. The problem derives in part from the Principle of Priority in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, which forces the use of the oldest available nomen irrespective of scientific merit. This provides a route to ‘immortality’ for unscrupulous individuals through the mass-naming of taxa without scientific basis, a phenomenon referred to as taxonomic vandalism. Following a flood of unscientific taxon namings, in 2013 a group of concerned herpetologists organized a widely supported, community-based campaign to treat these nomina as lying outside the permanent scientific record, and to ignore and overwrite them as appropriate. Here, we review the impact of these proposals over the past 8 years. We identified 59 instances of unscientific names being set aside and overwritten with science-based names (here termed aspidonyms), and 1087 uses of these aspidonyms, compared to ...

Neotropical Entomology

Biological control and taxonomy are continuously developing fields with remarkable impacts on society. At least 80 years of literature have documented this relationship, which remains essentially the same in its mutualistic nature, as well as in its major challenges. From the perspective of Brazilian taxonomists, we discuss the impacts of important scientific and social developments that directly affect research in these areas, posing new challenges for this lasting relationship. The increasing restrictions and concerns regarding the international transit of organisms require improvements in research related to risk assessment for exotic biological control agents and also stimulate prospecting within the native biota. In our view, this is a positive situation that can foster a closer relationship between taxonomists and applied entomologists, as well as local surveys and taxonomic studies that are necessary before new programs and agents can be implemented. We discuss the essential role of molecular biology in this context, as an iconic example of the synergy between applied sciences and natural history. As our society comes to need safer and more sustainable solutions for food security and the biodiversity crisis, scientific progress will build upon this integration, where biological control and taxonomy play an essential role.

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2018

Current approaches to biodiversity conservation are largely based on geographic areas, ecosystems, ecological communities, and species, with less attention on genetic diversity and the evolutionary continuum from populations to species. Conservation management generally rests on discrete categories, such as identified species, and, for threated taxa, intraspecific units. Species, in particular, provide a common measure of biodiversity yet in both theory and nature, speciation is typically a protracted process progressing from connected populations to unambiguous species with variable rates of phenotypic, ecological and genetic divergence. Thus, most recognized species are not genetically uniform and are sometimes highly structured into historically isolated populations worthy of consideration as intraspecific units that represent unique genetic diversity for conservation. Genome screens offer unprecedented resolution of structure across taxonomic boundaries in species complexes, and have the potential to oversplit species if not interpreted conservatively. This highlights the blurred line between populations and species, and can confound simple dichotomies of "species" vs. "not species." At the same time, like plants, there is increasing evidence that even distantly related animal species can hybridize and exchange genes. A review of conservation legislation reveals that legal definitions of "species" are quite flexible and can accommodate a range of infra-specifictaxa and divergent populations, as well as taxonomically recognized species. For example, the legislative definition of a species around the world can include: species, subspecies, varieties, and geographically and/or genetically distinct populations. In principle, this flexibility allows for protection of genetic diversity and maintenance of evolutionary processes at a broad range of infra-specific levels. However, evolutionary biologists often fail to adequately justify and then translate their evidence for genetically defined units into categories suited to assessment under local legislation. We recommend that (i) genomic data should be interpreted conservatively when formally naming species, (ii) concomitantly, there should be stronger impetus and a more uniform approach to identifying clearly justified intraspecific units, (iii) guidelines be developed for recognizing and labeling intraspecific data that align with best scientific practice, and (iv) that the more nuanced view of species and speciation emerging from genomic analyses is communicated more effectively by scientists to decision makers.

Journal of Avian Biology, 2020

The taxonomy of Procellariiformes, particularly petrels and shearwaters, is still unresolved. The Manx shearwaterPuffinus puffinusis one of the best studied seabirds worldwide. Most of the information known on this seabird is focused on the northern core populations where the species is abundant. However, the species shows a high number of peripheral populations, which are extremely small and difficult to study in comparison to central populations. Using an integrative approach, we provided significant evidence of phenological, morphological, acoustic, plumage colour and genetic differentiation of the Canarian Manx shearwaters (the most southern population) from the northern breeding colonies, which is compatible with a long period of isolation. Birds from the Canary Islands breed around 2–3 months earlier, are smaller and lighter and show darker underwing plumage than those from northern populations. In addition, Canarian call features are different from the northern populations. F...

Scientific Reports, 2020

mitochondrial genomes from such samples using shotgun sequencing 8-10. Faecal samples contain a complex pool of DNA including that of the host. The host DNA is particularly informative because it reflects the current genetic diversity of the species. Faecal samples are nevertheless still an underappreciated source of information and many protocols for field research do not cover the collection of such samples 8. Recent review by Srivathsan et al. 8 estimates that it is possible to obtain data on host genetics and natural history for nearly 1,000 species of mammals in the next decade if faecal samples were to be collected routinely during field surveys and evaluated using metagenomics. In this study, we document the power of faecal metagenomics for testing the species boundaries in two species of Asian primates that are listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Asian colobines (langurs and odd-nosed monkeys) are a diverse group of mammals, with 55 recognized species (87 spp.) belonging to seven genera (Nasalis, Presbytis, Pygathrix, Rhinopithecus, Semnopithecus, Simias, Trachypithecus) 11 ; i.e., nearly half of all primate species in Asia are colobines. Unfortunately, many of these species are dependent on habitats that are quickly disappearing. Thus, nine species are already considered Critically Endangered, 23 are Endangered, and nine Vulnerable according to IUCN threat criteria 5. This also applies to the genus Presbytis which is one of the most species-rich primate genera 12. The 17 recognized species are found in the tropical rainforests of Sundaland, including the Malay Peninsula and the western Indo-Malay Archipelago 13,14. Eleven species within Presbytis (chrysomelas, comata, femoralis, frontata, hosei, melalophos, natunae, potenziani, rubicunda, siamensis, and thomasi) were recognized in the last IUCN assessment 15. The assessment predated the elevation of six subspecies to species (see Roos et al. 11 : bicolor, canicrus, mitrata, sabana, siberu, sumatrana) which suggests that many of the Presbytis taxa currently ranked as subspecies are in urgent need for re-assessment with molecular data. Unfortunately, these data are lacking for many subspecies and species which has serious consequences for the proper conservation assessment. Meyer et al. 12 presented the most comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction of Presbytis which included 13 of the 17 recognized species, but the analysis was based on only two mitochondrial markers (cyt-b and d-loop). This study also covered the banded langur P. femoralis whose relationships had previously already been addressed by several studies. Presbytis femoralis is found on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra 16 (Fig. 1). The species currently consists of three subspecies that were originally described as species because they are distinguishable based on a combination of morphological characters. Yet, many primatologists subsequently considered these characters insufficient for recognizing the three taxa as species (see Table 1). The nominal species, Presbytis femoralis, was described by Martin (1838) based on specimens collected by Raffles (1821) from Singapore 17,18 (Table 2). Raffles' banded langur P. f. femoralis occurs in southern Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. The second subspecies, the East Sumatran banded langur P. f. percura (Fig. 2), occurs only in eastern Sumatra and was described by Lyon (1908) based on specimens collected from near Siak Kecil River, Makapan, Kompei, Pulau Rupat, and Salat Rupat 19. The third subspecies, Robinson's banded langur P. f. robinsoni, was described by Thomas (1910) based on white phenotypic variants collected in Trang, southern Thailand 20-22. However, typical robinsoni specimens are uniformly dark brown to black, with the inner side of the upper arms, lower abdomen following onto the inside of the thighs to the heel being white. Presbytis f. robinsoni is widespread and ranges from northern Peninsular Malaysia to southern Thailand and Myanmar. Presbytis femoralis, consisting of all three subspecies, is listed as Vulnerable in the most recent IUCN Red List assessment, with the nominate subspecies considered Endangered because the known populations are restricted to small and isolated patches of forest. In addition, one population from Singapore showed low genetic variability 10,23. Presbytis f. robinsoni is considered Near Threatened, while the least known and least studied subspecies is P. f. percura was considered Data Deficient 24. Genetic data suggest that at least P. f. femoralis and P. f. robinsoni are different species 25,26 which is also in agreement with the aforementioned morphological characters. However, resolving all subspecies-level boundaries within banded langurs required data for P. f. percura. For several reasons the subspecies boundaries within P. femoralis remain poorly understood. The main problem is the lack of molecular data for P. f. percura. However, even if the data were available, a comprehensive analysis would still be difficult because the sequence data from three published analyses were not submitted to public sequence repositories (cyt-b, 12 S rDNA, and d-loop) 27-29. This means that currently the only publicly available molecular data are for P. f. femoralis from the type locality in Singapore (KU899140) 10 and P. f. robinsoni from Redang Panjang, Malaysia (DQ355299) 30. Note that the genome DQ355299 was initially submitted to Genbank as P. melalophos but it was later clarified by Meyers et al. 12 that it is from P. f. robinsoni. Fortunately additional molecular data can be reconstructed based on a table published in Abdul-Latiff et al. 28 that lists the variable d-loop sites for several species and subspecies (see Nijman 26). Another complication related to resolving species limits within P. femoralis is confusing nomenclatural changes. Abdul-Latiff et al. 28 proposed to replace the type species P. femoralis (Martin 1838) with a junior synonym (P. neglectus neglectus Schlegel 1876) 31 without considering the detailed information in Low and Lim 32 that explains why Martin is the author of the name femoralis and Singapore the type locality of the species. Abdul-Latiff et al. 28 's study furthermore violated its own proposed nomenclatural changes by retaining P. f. percura and P. f. robinsoni (see Nijman 26). Here, we solve these problems by providing the first mitogenomes of P. f. percura and thus addressing the taxonomic status of all three subspecies of banded langurs. We also obtain the first mitogenome for the Riau pale-thighed langur P. siamensis cf. cana from Sumatra which helps with resolving subspecies limits within this species. Lastly, we provide an updated dated phylogenetic tree for Asian colobines based on mitochondrial genomes and survey the mammal literature to illustrate that faecal DNA is currently still an underutilized source of genetic information. Results Survey of zoological record. In order to investigate to what extent faecal samples have been used in addressing taxonomic problems, we surveyed the literature as captured in Zoological Record. We retrieved 1,852 articles that mentioned faecal samples, but apparently only a subset of 43 articles addressed systematic/taxonomic

Journal of mathematics and science teacher, 2023

An issue that might concern the species problem is the understanding and acceptance of evolution by students. The reason is that some of the modern concepts, which have been developed to define the species category, do not fit the evolutionary theory. In addition, some other concepts are simply criteria for the delimitation of species taxa. In particular, the biological and morphological species concepts, which are present in every textbook and are used almost exclusively in the teaching of evolution, can intensify students' essentialist perceptions. However, these perceptions could be effectively dealt with the development of the species problem and the nature of species taxa in the classroom, and also the treatment of species as one more level of organization of biological systems during teaching process. This approach is employed in a lesson with a view to contributing to the structure of a fully developed conceptual framework by the students in order to understand the evolution.

Scientific Reports, 2019

Diagnosability is central to taxonomy as are type specimens which define taxa. New advances in technologies and the discovery of new informative traits must be matched with previous taxonomic decisions based on name-bearing type specimens. Consequently, the challenge of sequencing highly degraded DNA from historical types becomes an inevitability to resolve the very many taxonomic issues arising from, by modern standards, poor historical species descriptions leading to difficulties to assign names to genetic clusters identified from fresh material. Here we apply high-throughput parallel sequencing and sequence baiting to reconstruct the mitogenomes from 18 type specimens of Australasian side-necked turtles (Chelidae). We resolve a number of important issues that have confused the taxonomy of this family, and analyse the mitogenomes of the types and those of fresh material to improve our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of this morphologically conservative group. Toget...

2019

Soils harbor a substantial fraction of the world’s biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning of soil organisms to support their conservation and governance. Here we identify and characterize the existing gaps in soil biodiversity and ecosystem function data across soil macroecological studies and >11,000 sampling sites. These include significant spatial, environmental, taxonomic, and functional gaps, and an almost complete absence of temporally explicit data. We also identify the limitations of soil macroecological studies to explore general patterns in soil biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, with only 0.6% of all sampling sites having a non-systematic coverage of both biodiversity and function datasets. Based on this information, we provide clear priorities to support and expand soil macroecological research.

PeerJ, 2023

Background. Ceriantharia is a subclass of the phylum Cnidaria, which comprises tubedwelling marine invertebrates. This subclass is composed of three families, including Arachnactidae, with two known genera. Currently, the genus Arachnanthus has five valid species recorded from Australia, the Mediterranean Sea and both the Southern and Northern Pacific Ocean. However, at the moment, there is no record of organisms of this family from the South Atlantic Ocean. Besides that, the life cycle of any species of the genus Arachnanthus is known. The present study describes a new species of the genus Arachnanthus and its life cycle, based on specimens from Uruguay and South of Brazil. Methods. Larvae were collected by plankton net in Rio Grande-Brazil and the development and external morphology of these specimens were observed in the laboratory during two years, and subsequently described. Additionally, nine adult ceriantharians correspondent to the larvae from Rio Grande were collected in Uruguay and their external and internal anatomies, and cnidome were described. Results. Arachnanthus errans sp. nov. exhibited a free-swimming, short-lived cerinula larvae that spent short-time on the plankton. The larva developed into small and translucent polyps with a short actinopharynx, one pair of mesenteries attached to a siphonoglyph, and a medium first pair of metamesenteries. Further, the adult polyp displayed an unprecedented locomotion behavior in Ceriantharia that is first reported here, it can crawl under and in between the sediment.

Australian Mammalogy

The use of correct taxonomy to describe and name the earth’s biodiversity is fundamental to conservation and management. However, there are issues that need to be overcome to ensure that the described taxa and their scientific names are both appropriate and widely adopted. Obstacles to this include the use of different species definitions, taxonomic instability due to accumulation of additional specimens in analyses and the progression of science that allows better resolution of species boundaries, and the inappropriate description and naming of new taxa without adequate scientific basis in self-published journals (known as ‘taxonomic vandalism’). In an effort to manage taxonomic instability, the Australasian Mammal Taxonomy Consortium (AMTC), an affiliated body of the Australian Mammal Society, has developed several tools that include: (1) a standardised list of Australian mammal common and scientific names; (2) recommendations for information that should be included in published s...

Zootaxa

Nature Communications, 2020

Soils harbor a substantial fraction of the world's biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning of soil organisms to support their conservation and consideration by governance. These macroecological analyses need to represent the diversity of environmental conditions that can be found worldwide. Here we identify and characterize existing environmental gaps in soil taxa and ecosystem functioning data across soil macroecological studies and 17,186 sampling sites across the globe. These data gaps include important spatial, environmental, taxonomic, and functional gaps, and an almost complete absence of temporally explicit data. We also identify the limitations of soil macroecological studies to explore general patterns in soil biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, with only 0.3% of all sampling sites having both information about biodiversity and function, although with different taxonomic groups and functions at each site. Based on this information, we provide clear priorities to support and expand soil macroecological research.