Abstract
Despite the important role that species names play in multiple fields, there is no globally complete list of known and described species. This lack is a result simultaneously of the complexity of planetary biodiversity, the long history of naming species in publications from all over the world, the small number of taxonomists working on many important groups, the rapid and dynamic change in knowledge for a few well-studied groups, and the limited incentives for researchers to curate such lists. Recent papers have proposed that a more formal governance mechanism is needed to assist with the translation of taxonomic knowledge to user communities. The recommendation is for the taxonomic community to assist user groups by maintaining reviewed lists that reflect as far as possible consensus among practising taxonomists and incorporating new insights and understanding as these become widely accepted within the relevant taxonomic community. The Catalogue of Life (COL) is the most significant international partnership working to deliver a list of all species by engaging a broad network of taxonomists and databases to contribute expert-curated lists for different taxonomic groups. COL, which included 1,908,823 species as of May 2021, has great experience with developing such a list across all taxonomic groups and has been modernising its processes and tools since 2017 to reflect best practice in management of large digital information assets. This paper explores the alignment between the current state and directions of COL and the initiative to improve the governance of species lists.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 677-690 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Organisms Diversity and Evolution |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This paper is one of a series published by the IUBS Working Group on the Governance of Taxonomic Lists. We are grateful for funding and support from the International Union of Biological Sciences and its Executive Officer Nathalie Fomproix, administration of the grant by Roanne Ramsey (Charles Darwin University), and formatting by Jeremy Garnett of Top End Editing. The paper also celebrates 20 years since the foundation of Catalogue of Life (COL) as a collaboration. This paper has benefited greatly from discussions with all members of both the Working Group and the COL Global Team, including those not listed as co-authors.
Funding Information:
This paper is one of a series published by the IUBS Working Group on the Governance of Taxonomic Lists. We are grateful for funding and support from the International Union of Biological Sciences and its Executive Officer Nathalie Fomproix, administration of the grant by Roanne Ramsey (Charles Darwin University), and formatting by Jeremy Garnett of Top End Editing. The paper also celebrates 20 years since the foundation of Catalogue of Life (COL) as a collaboration. This paper has benefited greatly from discussions with all members of both the Working Group and the COL Global Team, including those not listed as co-authors.
Funding Information:
Financial support was received from the International Union for Biological Sciences and Charles Darwin University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Gesellschaft für Biologische Systematik.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.