Madagascar: need and opportunity Brian Fisher, California Academy of Sciences Madagascar Biodiversity Center
Alex Smith, Guelph MBC inventory team
1. What living things exist?
2. Where do they live?
178 inventory sites
HL HW EL worker head measurements
90% of taxonomic products
never used
Museum: warehouse of dead creatures
Not a spatio-temporal portal on life
Is taxonomy dead?
no
in the middle of a breakthrough
but
taxonomists are dying
Does this matter?
If you study
less so
But, if you like
you are in trouble
Why does this matter?
Species Scape Organisms drawn proportional to number of species in each group
Lots of undescribed species
Fewer taxonomists
"suicidal" experiment
linked to understanding impact of human activities
Dow Jones index to the environment
Original Habitats: 10% remain Using taxonomic data, the government will triple protected habitat in 5 years
178 inventory sites
Industrial-strength specimen processing streamlines data management
Develop inventory methods Establish processing centers Accelerate identification Apply to conservation
HL HW EL worker head measurements
Madagascar Biodiversity Center
8,000 sequences 600 species
Anochetus goodmani Morphologically one species with deep within-species CO1 divisions. Ergatoid queens with extremely localised dispersal
Voucher Specimens and minimalist barcodes
de facto database of Pacific region invasive ants
Formicidae – Madagascar – Estimation of Diversity CASENT CASENT D specimens collected from 4 different sites. Morphospecies Barcode OTU
RESULTS No significant difference between morphospecies or barcode OTU’s estimates of taxonomic richness Morphospecies 3% Barcode OTU 2% Barcode OTU Smith et al 2005
3,000, ,000 10, % 0.3 %
Dow Jones Index
Mystrium fallux Mystrium mysticum Mystrium sp. nov. Mystrium obertheri