Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology

Why do ecologists seem to underestimate the consequences of using bad taxonomy? Is it because the consequences of doing so have not been yet scrutinized well enough? Is it because these consequences are irrelevant? In this paper I examine and discuss these questions, focusing on the fact that becaus...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor: Bortolus, Alejandro
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2008
País:Argentina
Recursos:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/100301
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/100301
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Ecologia
Taxonomia
errores
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
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spelling Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in EcologyBortolus, AlejandroEcologiaTaxonomiaerroreshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Why do ecologists seem to underestimate the consequences of using bad taxonomy? Is it because the consequences of doing so have not been yet scrutinized well enough? Is it because these consequences are irrelevant? In this paper I examine and discuss these questions, focusing on the fact that because ecological works provide baseline information for many other biological disciplines, they play a key role in spreading and magnifying the abundance of a variety of conceptual and methodological errors. Although overlooked and underestimated, this cascade-like process originates from trivial taxonomical problems that affect hypotheses and ideas, but it soon shifts into a profound practical problem affecting our knowledge about nature, as well as the ecosystem structure and functioning and the efficiency of human health care programs. In order to improve the intercommunication among disciplines, I propose a set of specific requirements that peer reviewed journals should request from all authors, and I also advocate for urgent institutional and financial support directed at reinvigorating the formation of scientific collections that integrate taxonomy and ecology.Fil: Bortolus, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaRoyal Swedish Acad Sciences2008-03info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/100301Bortolus, Alejandro; Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology; Royal Swedish Acad Sciences; Ambio; 37; 2; 3-2008; 114-1180044-7447CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://bioone.org/journals/ambio-a-journal-of-the-human-environment/volume-37/issue-2/0044-7447(2008)37%5b114%3aECITBS%5d2.0.CO%3b2/Error-Cascades-in-the-Biological-Sciences--The-Unwanted-Consequences/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[114:ECITBS]2.0.CO;2.shortinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[114:ECITBS]2.0.CO;2info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2024-05-08T14:15:13Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/100301instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982024-05-08 14:15:13.637CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
title Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
spellingShingle Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
Bortolus, Alejandro
Ecologia
Taxonomia
errores
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
title_short Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
title_full Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
title_fullStr Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
title_full_unstemmed Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
title_sort Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Bortolus, Alejandro
author Bortolus, Alejandro
author_facet Bortolus, Alejandro
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ecologia
Taxonomia
errores
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
topic Ecologia
Taxonomia
errores
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
description Why do ecologists seem to underestimate the consequences of using bad taxonomy? Is it because the consequences of doing so have not been yet scrutinized well enough? Is it because these consequences are irrelevant? In this paper I examine and discuss these questions, focusing on the fact that because ecological works provide baseline information for many other biological disciplines, they play a key role in spreading and magnifying the abundance of a variety of conceptual and methodological errors. Although overlooked and underestimated, this cascade-like process originates from trivial taxonomical problems that affect hypotheses and ideas, but it soon shifts into a profound practical problem affecting our knowledge about nature, as well as the ecosystem structure and functioning and the efficiency of human health care programs. In order to improve the intercommunication among disciplines, I propose a set of specific requirements that peer reviewed journals should request from all authors, and I also advocate for urgent institutional and financial support directed at reinvigorating the formation of scientific collections that integrate taxonomy and ecology.
publishDate 2008
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2008-03
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/100301
Bortolus, Alejandro; Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology; Royal Swedish Acad Sciences; Ambio; 37; 2; 3-2008; 114-118
0044-7447
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/100301
identifier_str_mv Bortolus, Alejandro; Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology; Royal Swedish Acad Sciences; Ambio; 37; 2; 3-2008; 114-118
0044-7447
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://bioone.org/journals/ambio-a-journal-of-the-human-environment/volume-37/issue-2/0044-7447(2008)37%5b114%3aECITBS%5d2.0.CO%3b2/Error-Cascades-in-the-Biological-Sciences--The-Unwanted-Consequences/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[114:ECITBS]2.0.CO;2.short
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[114:ECITBS]2.0.CO;2
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Royal Swedish Acad Sciences
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Royal Swedish Acad Sciences
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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score 15,812429

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