Conservation systematics: the Bufo boreas species group
Citation
Conservation systematics: the Bufo boreas species group: .
Summary
The purpose of this essay is to describe how systematics and taxonomy can better address conservation issues in both theoretical and utilitarian ways. I begin with a discussion of organismic diversity and how systematics and Linnaean taxonomy have failed to meet the needed description and quantification of diversity for conservation purposes. I then argue that recognizing diversity is more critical than recognizing species, and I suggest how diversity can be incorporated into systematics using measures of phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic taxonomy. In the final section, I suggest three utilitarian ways conservation systematics can incorporate diversity into management and politics: (1) set priorities for conservation; (2) reconstruct [...]
Summary
The purpose of this essay is to describe how systematics and taxonomy can better address conservation issues in both theoretical and utilitarian ways. I begin with a discussion of organismic diversity and how systematics and Linnaean taxonomy have failed to meet the needed description and quantification of diversity for conservation purposes. I then argue that recognizing diversity is more critical than recognizing species, and I suggest how diversity can be incorporated into systematics using measures of phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic taxonomy. In the final section, I suggest three utilitarian ways conservation systematics can incorporate diversity into management and politics: (1) set priorities for conservation; (2) reconstruct the Endangered Species Act (ESA); and (3) mitigate loss of total diversity by a procedure that identifies acceptable losses. To illustrate problems and solutions, I use examples from North American bufonids, especially the western toad (Bufo boreas) species group (Examples 1–3, below).
Published in Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species, in 2005.
