Abstract Detail

Colloquia: SERNEC: Four years of development of a herbarium Research Coordination Network

Weakley, A.S. [1], Peet, Robert [2].

Building a regional database of taxonomic concepts.

There is an increasing recognition of the need to clarify and explicitly communicate the taxonomic circumscriptions or concepts in all usages of scientific names, including monographs, floras, species lists, ecological sampling, legal applications, and online data compilations. The recognition that “names are not enough” has become codified in recently promulgated standards, but robust and extensive examples of how to implement this through the development and application of concept-based taxonomy are few. We here present a large example of taxonomic concept-mapping for the vascular flora of the Southeastern United States, wherein more than 6000 taxa and more than 2500 taxonomic works have been “mapped” to a single “accepted taxonomy.” The optimal way forward, though, appears to be through recognition of Least Divisible Taxonomic Units, and a mechanism for their flexible aggregation into the taxa recognized in important taxonomic schemas. This method allows for change over time, application of differing taxonomic standards, both maximal precision and flexibility of detail, and identification and annotation of individual specimens, allowing much more accurate and useful data aggregation than is currently possible.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University of North Carolina, Herbarium/NC Botanical Garden, Coker Hall, CB 3280, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA
2 - University of North Carolina, Department of Biology, Campus Box 3280, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3280, USA

Keywords:
taxon concepts
data integration
Southeastern flora
herbarium.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: C3
Location: Ballroom C/Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Time: 1:15 PM
Number: C3002
Abstract ID:722