1. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting TAXONOMY AND EDIT

2. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Taxonomy builds up the conceptual framework through which science and society see and handle biodiversity Scientific taxonomic concepts are needed for biological and ecological research Taxonomy is needed for conservation, sustainable management and evaluation of resources of biodiversity: environment, national and international regulations, trade, agriculture and industry However production and availability of taxonomy is not sufficient = Taxonomic Impediment Why Taxonomy?

3. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Numbers of known species and minimum estimate of extant species for taxa including probably more than 100.000 species (vertebrates included for comparison). Source WCMC, 1992. Global biodiversity assessment. Chapman & Hall. Taxonomic Impediment I : extent of the unknown

4. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Taxonomic impediment II: global production of knowledge Protozoa356 Plathelminthes316 Nematodes364 Annelida173 Mollusca363 Other invertebrates (non arthropodes) 254 Crustacea699 Arachnida1350 Other arthropodes (non insects)109 Hemiptera1103 Lepidoptera642 Diptera1048 Hymenoptera1196 Coleoptera2308 Other insects925 Fish231 Other vertebrates166 TOTAL : 11603

5. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Marine mollusks Fish Ortho- ptera Birds Bouchet MARBEF General Assembly 2006 Species naming curves for various taxa 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 17501800 1850190019502000 Year Number of species Marine molluscs Fish Orthoptera Birds

6. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting - 16,2 %1462,51745Total + 1,7 %6160 Other invertebrates - 52,6 %919Nemertinea - 4,5 %2122Echinodermata - 51,2 %2143Nematoda - 42,6 %2747Tunicata - 53,8 %3065Bryozoa - 48,7 %3976Porifera - 44,7 %88,5160Protozoa + 5,7 %7470Cnidaria - 10,8 %8393Plathelmintha - 30,3 %106152Annelida + 9,8 %123112Pisces + 3,3 %344333Mollusca - 11,6 %436493Crustacea 10 years difference 2002-20031991-1995 Marine Taxa Taxonomic Impediment III: decrease in production of knowledge

7. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2002-03 Names 0 20 40 60 1992-93 New marine fishes Authors Bouchet MARBEF General Assembly 2006

8. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting 1992-93 2002-03 Names Authors 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 1992-93 2002-03 New marine nematodes Bouchet MARBEF General Assembly 2006

9. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Taxonomy IV : fragmentation of expertise and status of descriptors Descriptions (232 species) 46% 40% 2% 12% Descriptors (N = 123) 55% 13% 2% 30% Amateurs describe proportionnaly more than professionals! In Europe more than half of the species are described by people who are not paid for that. Source Fauna Europaea, P. Bouchet Professionals Amateurs Retired professionals Students

10. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Taxonomy V : unevenly distributed biodiversity and information about it biodiversity hotspot holder of large amounts of biodiversity data

11. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting The efforts of malacologists from different parts of the world to describe new species of marine molluscs from their own region (internal activity) and from regions other than their own (external activity). From BOUCHET, P. 1997. Inventorying the molluscan diversity of the world: what is our rate of progress? The Veliger, 40(1): 1-11. Taxonomy VI: uneven distribution of capacities and taxa DATA = MOLLUSCS

12. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Taxonomy VII : unavailability of information and knowledge ?? millions papers and books - Virtually none indexed and accessible through GBIF or any other mean 1.5 + billion specimens in collections - 65 millions? specimens records available through GBIF (98 including observation records) 1.8 million species known (8 million names?) - 0,84 million species available through GBIF / catalogue of life

13. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Remedying the Taxonomic Impediment? by improving production through quantitative change of taxonomy - more research projects, more experts, more infrastructures, more funds by improving production through qualitative change of taxonomy - integration of the expertise - integration of the infrastructures (collections, librairies, databases) - integration of the production of taxonomy - integration of training - making taxonomy available on the web the objective of EDIT is to induce qualitative change of taxonomy through integration of taxonomic institutions and taxonomic work = 11.9 million euros / 5 years

14. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Taxonomic research needs large samples of organisms Taxonomic research needs access to previous knowledge Large collections and libraries provide access to both large samples and previous knowledge BUT Collections and libraries are dispersed and available only for the minority of taxonomists who work in large taxonomic institutions Taxonomy is created and managed slowly, like several decades and centuries ago, whereas the environment is rapidly modified Why Taxonomic Institutions?

15. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting CHALLENGE Improve production of taxonomic knowledge through research Make existing and new taxonomic knowledge available and usable beyond taxonomists APPROACH Taxonomic institutions will improve both production and availability of taxonomic knowledge by integraton Taxonomists will improve their production by changing their culture through new tools and new organization IT and the web will make integration and availability of taxonomic knowledge available far beyond institutions THE EDIT APPROACH

16. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT partnership includes holders of large amounts of data biodiversity hotspot holder of large amounts of biodiversity data EDIT partners (27)

17. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT capacities 400-600 millions specimens in collections = 30% of the world collections? 600-1000 professional taxonomists = 10 -15% of the world capacity? 30-50% of name-bearing type specimens? Millions of books, papers etc in taxonomy = unrivalled set of taxonomic documentation Overall possibly 10-15 % of world professional capacity, BUT –overall less than 5% (?) of the collections and virtually no literature digitized presently – a long way ahead to integrate institutions of various statuses which have been competing for more than one century…

18. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT coordination and management WP1 Coordination And integration Integrating the expert and expertise basis WP2 Integrating the infrastructure basis WP3 Coordinating research WP4 Resources Internet Platform for Cybertaxonomy WP5 Unifying Revisionary taxonomy WP6 Applying taxonomy to conservation WP7 Training and Public Awareness WP8 Products EDIT operational structure

19. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT organization

20. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT Website

21. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT operational objectives At taxonomic institutions level –progress toward integration of infrastructures : standards, new tools, collections, digital information, reinforce GBIF –progress toward integration of expertise At researchers level –change how taxonomists work by elaborating new collaborative IT tools to improve delivery of taxonomy –make researchers collaborate for inventories and revisions –train taxonomists for Europe and for southern countries At users level –make existing knowledge held by taxonomic institutions available, as well for Europe as for southern countries –make tools to elaborate taxonomy available and used –produce inventories and revisions –make taxonomic expertise available for research and for society

22. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT and GTI operational objectives Operational objective 1: EDIT will assess taxonomic needs and capacities at regional level through its Work package 7 Taxonomy for conservation, WP 8 Training and capacity building, and WP 2 Integrating the expert and expertise basis Operational objective 2: EDIT will provide focus to help build and maintain the human resources, systems and infrastructure needed to obtain, collate and curate the biological specimens that are the basis for taxonomic knowledge through its Work packages 2 and 3, Integrating the expert and expertise basis and Integrating the Infrastructure basis Operational objective 3: EDIT will facilitate an improved and effective infrastructure / system for access to taxonomic information; with priority on ensuring that countries of origin gain access to information concerning elements of their biodiversity through its Work Package 3, Integrating the Infrastructure basis

23. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT and capacity building Integrating infrastructures to make them available both electronically and physically (WP 3) Making tools for collaborative taxonomy on the internet and making them available to all taxonomists worldwide (WP 5 and 6) Setting standards and promoting inventories (ATBI + M) preferably in protected areas (WP 7) Training and capacity building (WP8), including specific actions to increase capacities in developing countries

24. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Coordinating and managing EDIT (WP1) Build up and operate a dynamic structure ensuring long-term operational and structural links between partners Coordinate the activities regarding research, infrastructures and expertise. Ensure interaction of EDIT activities with scientific activity in the field of biodiversity and with societal needs. Coordinate interactions with stakeholders, including communication with institutional stakeholders. Ensure internal and external communication of EDIT, and its visibility through the web

25. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting WP1.1: operation of the administrating structure 1.1 Establishment and running of the Network Office 1.2 Operation of the Network Steering Committee

26. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting WP1.2. Orientation, Sustainability and development of exploitation strategies 2.1 Orientation of EDIT activities - the Scientific Advisory Council - the Board of Directors 2.2 Legal structure 2.3 Interactions with institutional stakeholders outside EDIT and exploitation strategies 2.4 Roadmap for EDIT

27. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting WP1.3. Communication (internal / external) 3.1 Establishment and running of the Website 3.2 Publication of the EDIT bulletin 3.3 Participation to meetings and forums

28. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting WP1.4. Liaison programme coordinating the ad hoc liaison groups established by WPs Maintain coherence and impulse common direction among the liaison groups established for various goals in the different workpackages Propose modalities after month 17

29. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting WP1.5. Gender action plan 5.1 Work towards achieving gender balance in all activities 5.2 Raise gender awareness among EDIT participants 5.3 Promote women in science 5.4 Consider family-friendly policies

30. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting EDIT Website http://www.e-taxonomy.eu

31. 28/06/06 Kickoff Meeting Thank you