Outlets for alpha taxonomy

[Ron at]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Barry Roth" <barry_roth at YAHOO.COM>
To: <TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG>
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2002 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: Outlets for alpha taxonomy


snips.....
Given the urgent need to get the earth's biota described, I think papers
containing simple and efficient description should receive priority
handling by editors.
>
> Barry Roth

Which is why our motto at The International Lepidoptera Survey is:
"We can not protect that which we do not know."

Figuring out the past evolutionary histories - and deciding which means and
methods best communicate this past is fine.   But where is the study of the
that which is in evolutionary process today - at and below the species
level.  This is the imperfect hit and miss taxonomy of what is living today
and evolving into X??tomorrow.  There are no short cuts - e.g. describe
just the genera perhaps some species.  Just because the job is so big, the
crisis induced time so short, and the field taxonomists so few does not
mean we should do less than our most thorough best.  Educate and hire more
field biologists, naturalists, taxonomists in the war for discovery,
determination, and documentation.

Ron Gatrelle