[Taxacom] Why Taxonomy does NOT matter

[Mary Barkworth]

I think this was touched on earlier but just in case: Taxonomy is often presented, in other disciplines but also taxonomic presentations, as a done deal. This organisms is called this. Learn to recognize on sight this list of 50 species. Or, "here is a list of the species found in this area".  If there has been a change in name, this may be presented as some arbitrary decision. Possibly in our presentations and in making resources available, we need to place greater emphasis on the limits of what we know. This is not always what people want to hear. Then again, perhaps it does not matter. Bread wheat is bread wheat; rice is rice (until a change in cultivation results in introgression from a weedy cousin - but that is agriculture, not taxonomy).  If an ant stings me, do I care what species it is? Will I know that a species has gone extinct? Will preventing loss of biodiversity affect climate change - or should we invest in inexpensive mechanisms for improving the efficiency of cooking fuels?
Mary