Assessing biotic diversity : the glorious past, present, and the uncertain future

The recent biodiversity crisis, primarily due to economic models and human population pressure, is paralleled by a taxonomic crisis. The main responsibility for the crisis in taxonomy is the evaluation of the discipline in the sciences. Other factors impeding work in taxonomy derive from practices concerning grants, paradigms in museums shifting away from collection-based studies, biodiversity studies with diminishing effort to adequately identify samples, methods of global diversity assessments, and bureaucratic restrictions regulating field work.peer-reviewe

Assessing biodiversity : a glorious past, an uncertain future

Measuring and maintaining diversity of life forms is undoubtedly of high importance. Paradoxically, support allocated to taxonomists, that is to those who reveal this diversity, seems to be negatively correlated to the importance given to biodiversity. The true reasons for the current biodiversity disaster, primarily derived from economic myopia, ignorance, and population pressure, seem to be to a large extent disregarded while, taxonomists are used as a scape-goat.peer-reviewe