Th
eimp
ort
anc
eoft
axo
nomyi
nec
olo
gy
B
.A.
Woo
dco
ck
Ce
ntr
efo
rEcol
ogyandHydro
log
y,Banc
hor
y,Ab
erde
ens
hir
e,S
cot
landAB
315
BY&I
mpe
rial
Col
l
egeat
Si
l
woodP
ark
,As co
t,Be
rksh
ireUKS
L 57
PY.
Toc onv eyan yinfo rmat i
onab outano rg anis
mr equiresaname .Th ispr emis
eh asbeenOneo ft he
corner st
o nesofe cologysinceL innaeusf irstdes
c ri
b edh ishie
rar chical
Class
if i
c ati
onin1 735 .FromL i
nnae an’ss yste
mo fc l
as si
f i
cat
iont hes ci
enc eoftaxonomyHasde v e
lope
d.
Wh il
et hede f i
nit
iono fwh atexac tl
yisas peci
es,th eb asicunitofTax onomy ,isoftenuncleare c o
logi
stswil
l
normal lywo rkwith i
nade finit
ion,s uchasP o
tentiallyinterbreedingp op ul
ati
onsinsexualo rganisms.F rom
thepu blicati
ono fth isFormo fc l
assi
ficationamaj o rco mpone ntoft heb iol
ogi
calsci
encesr epresentedan
Attemp tt ocategorizelife’
s’di versi
tyintot heunitsde finedb yL i
nnae us.I nmanyr e
spect
sTh i
swast he
heydayo ftaxonomy ,ast heef fort
so fs omanyi ndi vi
du al
swe r
edi rectedTo wardsthego alo fp rov
idinga
namef ore veryli
vingt hi
ng .Itwasi nt hisp er
iod,
t
h
Parti
c ular l
ythef i
r sthalfo fth e19 c
e ntury,wh ichs omanyo ft heg reattaxonomicAu t
h orssu chasHaliday,
Me i
ge n,o rF all
énwo rked.
I
twasanat temptt oe xpl
aint hes he
ers iz
eo fthe s
el ist
so fspec i
esthatDar winandh isTheoryo fe v
oluti
on
pull
edt h er ugf r
omt hef eetoft axonomy .Thep rodu cti
o nofl i
stsnoL ongerreprese
ntedth er ealchall
enge.
Rathe rth ans i
mp l
yt r yi
ngt onameasmanys peci
e sAsp oss
ibl
equ e s
tionswe reaskeds u
chash ows pe
cies
migh tinterac t
.Rat h erthanb eingAne ndi nits
elf,t ax onomyno wb ecameat oolinthepu rs
u i
to fans wersin
otherf ieldo fB i
ol
o gy.Tax ono myb ecamet hewh ee l
so nwh i
cht hequ estio
nsthatbiol
ogis
tss ough tto
Answe rr ode.
Unf ortunat el
yitwo u l
ds eemt hatt hi
swh eelbec
amep unc t
uredandi sno ws ome whatDeflated,t axonomyi s
nowo ftens eenno tasat ool
,b u tasat imec onsumi ngh indranc e.
Thequ e s
tio
nno was kedis‘doy oureall
yne edas ci
ent
ificname’?Th emo s
tc onvinci
ngAr gumentsforn o
t
goingtot hi
sinconvenie
nc earede monstrat
edinas s
essmentsofdiversi
tyinar easo fexcepti
onalbi
olo
gical
ric
h nessi.e.tropi
calrainforest
s.Insuch
Hab i
tatsattemptstoidenti
fye ve
rys pe
c i
me ntospeci
es,eveninar estri
ctedg ro
u p,canb eImp r
acti
caldueto
thesh eerleve
lofdi ve
rsit
y.Th esolut
io
nde v
elo
p e
dr et
ainedac onc
eptOfwh atisas peci
es,butopte
dn otto
putau nive
rsall
yre c
ognizednamet oit.Th i
swasTh es o
-cal
ledrec
og niz
ab letax onomicunitorRTU.
I
np racti
cethede t
erminationofRTU’ su se
sas ui
teofmo r
pholo
gic
al char acterstoS eparat
eindivi
dual
sf rom
ac ommu ni
tyintogroupsthatdifferfr ome achother
,i nawayVe rysimi l
art ot hos
et e
chniquesus
edb y
taxonomi st
s.RTU’ sareideall
ysu i
te
dt otheRap i
das s
essmentofbiodiversityinawo rldwh ereti
me,mo ney
andt hep ossi
bi
li
tythatTh eremayb eo ver29mi l
li
onunk nownspeci
esp rev entsmo stfrome venatte
mp t
ingto
Namee veryindivi
dual(Erwin1982;May1 986)
.Fore xamp l
eiti
sprac t
icallyimp ossi
bleTodoac ompl
ete
i
nv entoryinmo stofthes uperdivers
eh abit
ats
,ass ci
entifi
cnamesS imp l
ydo n’te x
is
tf ormanys peci
es
.It
hasb eene st
imatedthattog i
veev er
ye xt
ant
Speciesas ci
enti
ficnamewo uldtakeseveralthou
sandy ears(Di
sney1986 ;Mc NeelyetAl.1990)
Theinco
rporat
ionofatax onomicframewo rkwithi
nwh i
chRTU’sareposi
tio
nedhasProv
edtobeau s
eful
c
omp ro
mise.Thisi
nvol
vesidenti
fyi
nge achindi
v i
dual
tosomeLevelc
las
sif
icati
on,suc
hasfamil
y,andthen
u
singRTU’stofurt
herseparatethegroup.
S
uc hl
owerleve
lsofide
nti
f i
cati
onp r
ovideimp o
rtantec
olo
gical
inf
ormatio
nwh i
let
heUseofRTU’sdo
esnot
h
indertheproj
ectwi
thspeciesl
eveli
denti
ficat
ions.Ev
enu s
ingThi
sme t
hodthemainp r
obl
emwithRTU’s
eimp
ort
anc
eoft
axo
nomyi
nec
olo
gy
B
.A.
Woo
dco
ck
Ce
ntr
efo
rEcol
ogyandHydro
log
y,Banc
hor
y,Ab
erde
ens
hir
e,S
cot
landAB
315
BY&I
mpe
rial
Col
l
egeat
Si
l
woodP
ark
,As co
t,Be
rksh
ireUKS
L 57
PY.
Toc onv eyan yinfo rmat i
onab outano rg anis
mr equiresaname .Th ispr emis
eh asbeenOneo ft he
corner st
o nesofe cologysinceL innaeusf irstdes
c ri
b edh ishie
rar chical
Class
if i
c ati
onin1 735 .FromL i
nnae an’ss yste
mo fc l
as si
f i
cat
iont hes ci
enc eoftaxonomyHasde v e
lope
d.
Wh il
et hede f i
nit
iono fwh atexac tl
yisas peci
es,th eb asicunitofTax onomy ,isoftenuncleare c o
logi
stswil
l
normal lywo rkwith i
nade finit
ion,s uchasP o
tentiallyinterbreedingp op ul
ati
onsinsexualo rganisms.F rom
thepu blicati
ono fth isFormo fc l
assi
ficationamaj o rco mpone ntoft heb iol
ogi
calsci
encesr epresentedan
Attemp tt ocategorizelife’
s’di versi
tyintot heunitsde finedb yL i
nnae us.I nmanyr e
spect
sTh i
swast he
heydayo ftaxonomy ,ast heef fort
so fs omanyi ndi vi
du al
swe r
edi rectedTo wardsthego alo fp rov
idinga
namef ore veryli
vingt hi
ng .Itwasi nt hisp er
iod,
t
h
Parti
c ular l
ythef i
r sthalfo fth e19 c
e ntury,wh ichs omanyo ft heg reattaxonomicAu t
h orssu chasHaliday,
Me i
ge n,o rF all
énwo rked.
I
twasanat temptt oe xpl
aint hes he
ers iz
eo fthe s
el ist
so fspec i
esthatDar winandh isTheoryo fe v
oluti
on
pull
edt h er ugf r
omt hef eetoft axonomy .Thep rodu cti
o nofl i
stsnoL ongerreprese
ntedth er ealchall
enge.
Rathe rth ans i
mp l
yt r yi
ngt onameasmanys peci
e sAsp oss
ibl
equ e s
tionswe reaskeds u
chash ows pe
cies
migh tinterac t
.Rat h erthanb eingAne ndi nits
elf,t ax onomyno wb ecameat oolinthepu rs
u i
to fans wersin
otherf ieldo fB i
ol
o gy.Tax ono myb ecamet hewh ee l
so nwh i
cht hequ estio
nsthatbiol
ogis
tss ough tto
Answe rr ode.
Unf ortunat el
yitwo u l
ds eemt hatt hi
swh eelbec
amep unc t
uredandi sno ws ome whatDeflated,t axonomyi s
nowo ftens eenno tasat ool
,b u tasat imec onsumi ngh indranc e.
Thequ e s
tio
nno was kedis‘doy oureall
yne edas ci
ent
ificname’?Th emo s
tc onvinci
ngAr gumentsforn o
t
goingtot hi
sinconvenie
nc earede monstrat
edinas s
essmentsofdiversi
tyinar easo fexcepti
onalbi
olo
gical
ric
h nessi.e.tropi
calrainforest
s.Insuch
Hab i
tatsattemptstoidenti
fye ve
rys pe
c i
me ntospeci
es,eveninar estri
ctedg ro
u p,canb eImp r
acti
caldueto
thesh eerleve
lofdi ve
rsit
y.Th esolut
io
nde v
elo
p e
dr et
ainedac onc
eptOfwh atisas peci
es,butopte
dn otto
putau nive
rsall
yre c
ognizednamet oit.Th i
swasTh es o
-cal
ledrec
og niz
ab letax onomicunitorRTU.
I
np racti
cethede t
erminationofRTU’ su se
sas ui
teofmo r
pholo
gic
al char acterstoS eparat
eindivi
dual
sf rom
ac ommu ni
tyintogroupsthatdifferfr ome achother
,i nawayVe rysimi l
art ot hos
et e
chniquesus
edb y
taxonomi st
s.RTU’ sareideall
ysu i
te
dt otheRap i
das s
essmentofbiodiversityinawo rldwh ereti
me,mo ney
andt hep ossi
bi
li
tythatTh eremayb eo ver29mi l
li
onunk nownspeci
esp rev entsmo stfrome venatte
mp t
ingto
Namee veryindivi
dual(Erwin1982;May1 986)
.Fore xamp l
eiti
sprac t
icallyimp ossi
bleTodoac ompl
ete
i
nv entoryinmo stofthes uperdivers
eh abit
ats
,ass ci
entifi
cnamesS imp l
ydo n’te x
is
tf ormanys peci
es
.It
hasb eene st
imatedthattog i
veev er
ye xt
ant
Speciesas ci
enti
ficnamewo uldtakeseveralthou
sandy ears(Di
sney1986 ;Mc NeelyetAl.1990)
Theinco
rporat
ionofatax onomicframewo rkwithi
nwh i
chRTU’sareposi
tio
nedhasProv
edtobeau s
eful
c
omp ro
mise.Thisi
nvol
vesidenti
fyi
nge achindi
v i
dual
tosomeLevelc
las
sif
icati
on,suc
hasfamil
y,andthen
u
singRTU’stofurt
herseparatethegroup.
S
uc hl
owerleve
lsofide
nti
f i
cati
onp r
ovideimp o
rtantec
olo
gical
inf
ormatio
nwh i
let
heUseofRTU’sdo
esnot
h
indertheproj
ectwi
thspeciesl
eveli
denti
ficat
ions.Ev
enu s
ingThi
sme t
hodthemainp r
obl
emwithRTU’s
