How Does Taxonomy Help Biodiversity?

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Kathryn Pintus, IUCN , "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 4) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 4. Junko Shimura, CBD. Verbatim.

Biodiversity, or life on Earth, is disappearing at an unprecedented rate as a result of human activities. Decisions must be taken now to reverse this trend. But how do decision-makers decide where to establish protected areas, places that receive special protection because of their environmental or cultural value, if they don’t know what needs protecting?

How can regulators identify and combat harmful invasive alien species if they cannot distinguish them from native species? How can countries use their biodiversity if they don’t know what biodiversity exists within their borders?

The field of taxonomy answers these questions and more! 

Taxonomy is the science of naming, describing and classifying organisms and includes all plants, animals and micro-organisms of the world. Using morphological, behavioural, genetic and biochemical observations, taxonomists uncover evolutionary processes and study relationships among species. 

Unfortunately, taxonomic knowledge is far from complete. In the past 250 years of research, taxonomists have named about 1.78 million species of animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms. Though the total number of species is unknown, it is probably between five and 30 million, which means only six to 35 percent of the Earth’s  species have been scientifically identified. Without thorough taxonomic knowledge, it’s very difficult to have effective conservation and management of biodiversity.

Governments, through the Convention on Biological Diversity, noted this “taxonomic impediment” to the sound management of biodiversity. In 1998, they launched the Global Taxonomic Initiative (GTI) to fill the knowledge gaps in our taxonomic system, to fix the shortage of trained taxonomists and curators, and to address the impact these deficiencies have on our ability to conserve, use and share the benefits of biodiversity. For more information about scientific naming see Annex B.