Text of Frank Howarth Future Directions for Taxonomy in Australia
Frank HowarthFuture Directions for Taxonomy in Australia
Ageing cohort of practising taxonomistsDeclining numbers of
practising taxonomistsFocussed mainly on groups or families of
organismsSignificantly reduced university training
availableDeclining numbers of jobsLargely people dependent,
requiring substantial human judgementLarger more charismatic
organisms (plants and animals) much better known at species
level
Classical or morphology-based taxonomy in Australia now
Significant skill shortage problems in handling large inventory
style projects (eg Census of Marine Life)Work and funding
priorities historically focussed on completeness or filling gaps
(eg in floras) and driven largely by the areas of interest of
taxonomistsSignificant misalignment between taxonomic knowledge
strengths and emerging problemsWidely held perception outside of
the immediate taxonomy field that taxonomic problems have largely
been fixed ie enough is known
Classical or morphology-based taxonomy in Australia now
contd
Managing some crop pests (eg aphids)Detecting and managing
invasive marine organismsDetection of potential invasives (eg on
islands in Torres Strait)Conservation reserve location (marine and
terrestrial)Location of corridors linking conservation reserves and
other wildlife rich areas
Typical problems which require species level knowledge to
solve
Measuring effectiveness of catchment management
strategiesRehabilitating degraded landsImpacts of climate change on
species distributionUnderstanding evolutionary processes
Typical problems which require species level knowledge to solve
contd
The current paradigm
The current paradigm
The current paradigm
A paradigm shift
A paradigm shift
A paradigm shift
Develop and populate specimen databases (access to existing
knowledge)Accelerate production of master names indicesStrengthen
national (eg ALA) and international (eg GBIF) methods of accessing
databasesDo prioritised inventories of the key parts of the
biosphereDevelop lab and field usable technology to access
morphological and barcode based taxonomic information (keys,
terminals, pads, comms)
Recommendations
Develop multifaceted graduate and post graduate programs that
use elements of morphological taxonomy, DNA/genetic/barcodes,
bioinformatics, ecology and modellingDevelop career paths by
creating jobs in relevant agencies based around these skills, and
by using strategies such as targeted fellowships and post-doctoral
appointments to develop skills
Recommendations 2
Prioritise taxonomy funding, job creation and research effort by
problem, not by group (unless a particular group is a key to a
problem) or solely for completeness sakeConduct constructive PR
about the fact that many significant problems will require applied
taxonomic knowledge to solve.Treat our existing taxonomists as
living treasures and do as much as we can to utilise their skills
for training and problem-solving
