New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy

Benoît Fontaine; Kees van Achterberg; Miguel Angel Alonso-Zarazaga; Rafael Araujo; Manfred Asche; Horst Aspöck; Ulrike Aspöck; Paolo Audisio; Berend Aukema; Nicolas Bailly; Maria Balsamo; Ruud A. Bank; Carlo Belfiore; Wieslaq Bogdanowicz; Geoffrey Boxshall; Daniel Burckhardt; Przemyslaw Chylarecki; Louis Deharveng; Alain Dubois; Henrik Enghoff; Romolo Fochetti; Colin Fontaine; Olivier Gargominy; Maria Soledad Gomez Lopez; Daniel Goujet; Mark S. Harvey; Klaus-Gerhard Heller; Peter van Helsdingen; Hannelore Hoch; Yde de Jong; Ole Karsholt; Wouter Los; Wojciech Magowski; Jos. A. Massard; Sandra J. McInnes; Luis F. Mendes; Eberhard Mey; Verner Michelsen; Alessandro Minelli; Juan M. Nieto Nafria; Erik. J. van Nieukerken; Thomas Pape; Willy de Prins; Marian Ramos; Claudia Ricci; Cees Roselaar; Emilia Rota; Hendrik Segers; Tarmo Timm; Jan van Tol; Philippe Bouchet

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036881

New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy

Benoît Fontaine, Kees van Achterberg, Miguel Angel Alonso-Zarazaga, Rafael Araujo, Manfred Asche, Horst Aspöck, Ulrike Aspöck, Paolo Audisio, Berend Aukema, Nicolas Bailly, Maria Balsamo, Ruud A. Bank, Carlo Belfiore, Wieslaq Bogdanowicz, Geoffrey Boxshall, Daniel Burckhardt, Przemyslaw Chylarecki, Louis Deharveng, Alain Dubois, Henrik EnghoffRomolo Fochetti, Colin Fontaine, Olivier Gargominy, Maria Soledad Gomez Lopez, Daniel Goujet, Mark S. Harvey, Klaus-Gerhard Heller, Peter van Helsdingen, Hannelore Hoch, Yde de Jong, Ole Karsholt, Wouter Los, Wojciech Magowski, Jos. A. Massard, Sandra J. McInnes, Luis F. Mendes, Eberhard Mey, Verner Michelsen, Alessandro Minelli, Juan M. Nieto Nafria, Erik. J. van Nieukerken, Thomas Pape, Willy de Prins, Marian Ramos, Claudia Ricci, Cees Roselaar, Emilia Rota, Hendrik Segers, Tarmo Timm, Jan van Tol, Philippe Bouchet

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Abstract

The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.

Original language	English
Article number	e36881
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	7
Issue number	5
Number of pages	7
ISSN	1932-6203
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036881
Publication status	Published - 23 May 2012

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Fontaine, B., van Achterberg, K., Alonso-Zarazaga, M. A., Araujo, R., Asche, M., Aspöck, H., Aspöck, U., Audisio, P., Aukema, B., Bailly, N., Balsamo, M., Bank, R. A., Belfiore, C., Bogdanowicz, W., Boxshall, G., Burckhardt, D., Chylarecki, P., Deharveng, L., Dubois, A., ... Bouchet, P. (2012). New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy. PLoS ONE, 7(5), [e36881]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036881

Fontaine, B, van Achterberg, K, Alonso-Zarazaga, MA, Araujo, R, Asche, M, Aspöck, H, Aspöck, U, Audisio, P, Aukema, B, Bailly, N, Balsamo, M, Bank, RA, Belfiore, C, Bogdanowicz, W, Boxshall, G, Burckhardt, D, Chylarecki, P, Deharveng, L, Dubois, A, Enghoff, H, Fochetti, R, Fontaine, C, Gargominy, O, Lopez, MSG, Goujet, D, Harvey, MS, Heller, K-G, van Helsdingen, P, Hoch, H, de Jong, Y, Karsholt, O, Los, W, Magowski, W, Massard, JA, McInnes, SJ, Mendes, LF, Mey, E, Michelsen, V, Minelli, A, Nafria, JMN, van Nieukerken, EJ, Pape, T, de Prins, W, Ramos, M, Ricci, C, Roselaar, C, Rota, E, Segers, H, Timm, T, van Tol, J & Bouchet, P 2012, 'New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy', PLoS ONE, vol. 7, no. 5, e36881. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036881

@article{be8ef0fae26a4f0f8306a5b6fbb4bf4b,

title = "New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy",

abstract = "The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.",

author = "Beno{\^i}t Fontaine and {van Achterberg}, Kees and Alonso-Zarazaga, {Miguel Angel} and Rafael Araujo and Manfred Asche and Horst Asp{\"o}ck and Ulrike Asp{\"o}ck and Paolo Audisio and Berend Aukema and Nicolas Bailly and Maria Balsamo and Bank, {Ruud A.} and Carlo Belfiore and Wieslaq Bogdanowicz and Geoffrey Boxshall and Daniel Burckhardt and Przemyslaw Chylarecki and Louis Deharveng and Alain Dubois and Henrik Enghoff and Romolo Fochetti and Colin Fontaine and Olivier Gargominy and Lopez, {Maria Soledad Gomez} and Daniel Goujet and Harvey, {Mark S.} and Klaus-Gerhard Heller and {van Helsdingen}, Peter and Hannelore Hoch and {de Jong}, Yde and Ole Karsholt and Wouter Los and Wojciech Magowski and Massard, {Jos. A.} and McInnes, {Sandra J.} and Mendes, {Luis F.} and Eberhard Mey and Verner Michelsen and Alessandro Minelli and Nafria, {Juan M. Nieto} and {van Nieukerken}, {Erik. J.} and Thomas Pape and {de Prins}, Willy and Marian Ramos and Claudia Ricci and Cees Roselaar and Emilia Rota and Hendrik Segers and Tarmo Timm and {van Tol}, Jan and Philippe Bouchet",

year = "2012",

month = may,

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doi = "10.1371/journal.pone.0036881",

language = "English",

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T2 - Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy

AU - Fontaine, Benoît

AU - van Achterberg, Kees

AU - Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel Angel

AU - Araujo, Rafael

AU - Asche, Manfred

AU - Aspöck, Horst

AU - Aspöck, Ulrike

AU - Audisio, Paolo

AU - Aukema, Berend

AU - Bailly, Nicolas

AU - Balsamo, Maria

AU - Bank, Ruud A.

AU - Belfiore, Carlo

AU - Bogdanowicz, Wieslaq

AU - Boxshall, Geoffrey

AU - Burckhardt, Daniel

AU - Chylarecki, Przemyslaw

AU - Deharveng, Louis

AU - Dubois, Alain

AU - Enghoff, Henrik

AU - Fochetti, Romolo

AU - Fontaine, Colin

AU - Gargominy, Olivier

AU - Lopez, Maria Soledad Gomez

AU - Goujet, Daniel

AU - Harvey, Mark S.

AU - Heller, Klaus-Gerhard

AU - van Helsdingen, Peter

AU - Hoch, Hannelore

AU - de Jong, Yde

AU - Karsholt, Ole

AU - Los, Wouter

AU - Magowski, Wojciech

AU - Massard, Jos. A.

AU - McInnes, Sandra J.

AU - Mendes, Luis F.

AU - Mey, Eberhard

AU - Michelsen, Verner

AU - Minelli, Alessandro

AU - Nafria, Juan M. Nieto

AU - van Nieukerken, Erik. J.

AU - Pape, Thomas

AU - de Prins, Willy

AU - Ramos, Marian

AU - Ricci, Claudia

AU - Roselaar, Cees

AU - Rota, Emilia

AU - Segers, Hendrik

AU - Timm, Tarmo

AU - van Tol, Jan

AU - Bouchet, Philippe

PY - 2012/5/23

Y1 - 2012/5/23

N2 - The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.

AB - The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0036881

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0036881

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22649502

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 7

JO - PLoS Computational Biology

JF - PLoS Computational Biology

IS - 5

M1 - e36881

ER -

New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy

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