Taxonomical Anarchy Hampers Conservation

By Birding-Aus, on June 1st, 2017

Steve Garnett and Les Christidis say

“The assumption that species are fixed entities1 underpins every international agreement on biodiversity conservation, all national environmental legislation and the efforts of many individuals and organizations to safeguard plants and animals. Yet for a discipline aiming to impose order on the natural world, taxonomy (the classification of complex organisms) is remarkably anarchic.”