[Annelida] RE: Marine taxonomy futures in Australia
Serena Teo
via
annelida%40net.bio.net
(by tmsteolm from nus.edu.sg)
Tue Feb 17 21:08:56 EST 2015
Beyond science, taxonomy has societal functions - I doubt the average man on the street appreciates beauty in "metabarcoded samples". Taxonomists play a larger role in connecting science to people in a way that they can appreciate the value of biodiversity conservation, something to see and behold.
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From: annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu [annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu] on behalf of Geoff Read [Geoffrey.Read from niwa.co.nz]
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 9:57 AM
To: annelida from net.bio.net
Subject: [Annelida] RE: Marine taxonomy futures in Australia
Further,
I've been reading about metabarcoding. Are all taxonomists going to be unnecessary, or at least even more sidelined than now? Quote "Compared with standard biodiversity data sets, metabarcoded samples are taxonomically more comprehensive, many times quicker to produce, less reliant on taxonomic expertise and auditable by third parties, which is essential for dispute resolution."
I can see the attraction for funders. A lot of offshore benthic work is funded because it has some relation to environmental impact of mining or oil exploration & drilling, or bottom-trawling. The results may be tested in court hearings, and apparently non-subjective data is advantageous.
Forest example (& explains metabarcoding)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.12162
A marine application including annelids
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1424997112
Geoff
-----Original Message-----
From: annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu [mailto:annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu] On Behalf Of Geoff Read
Sent: Tuesday, 17 February 2015 11:43 p.m.
To: annelida from net.bio.net
Subject: [Annelida] Marine taxonomy futures in Australia
FYI
http://australianmuseum.net.au/blogpost/amri-news/amri-marine-taxonomists-are-becoming-endangered
http://issuu.com/amsabulletin/docs/bulletin_dec_2014_forweb/16?e=6492809/11042994
Just a comment on a related matter, not I think mentioned by Pat. I noticed Australia have a new deep water research vessel, RV Investigator ( http://csirofrvblog.com/ ), which presumably will do some benthos work. How would any taxonomic work on the material collected be resourced? Does anyone know? In New Zealand in the same situation it is usual that 'identification' of sorts to enable ecological analyses is expected and will be funded by a government agency, but this is only enough for a quick look see. Mostly the taxonomy funding necessary before precise identification or new species description is possible is not included in project budgets.
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