Taxonomic impediment

The greatest contributions of taxonomy to science and humanity are yet to come. Against formidable odds and with minimal funding, equipment, infrastructure, organization and encouragement, taxonomists have discovered, described, and classified nearly 1.8 million species. While increasing attention is being paid to making this substantial amount of accumulated taxonomic information more easily accessible, comparatively little attention has been paid to opening access to the research resources required by taxonomists themselves. Benefits associated with ease of access to museum records (e.g. Global Biodiversity Information Facility) or 'known' species (e.g. Encyclopedia of Life) are seriously restricted when such information is untested for validity or is simply unavailable, as is the case for three-quarters or more of the species on Earth. We act as if taxonomy is done but nothing could be farther from the truth.

The term "taxonomic impediment"

The history of the term "taxonomic impediment" can be traced, with the first documented use in any context being in 1976, though this and a few later uses were made with regard to "aspects of taxonomic poverty other than lack of taxonomic expertise." It was not until the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 2) meeting in Jakarta in 1995 that the term "taxonomic impediment" was first used in the modern sense, referring explicitly to a shortage of taxonomists and lack of support for their research, and subsequently first formally published in the broader scientific literature in 1996.