[Taxacom] OK Taxacomers, you have had your chance, now it's the lawyers turn.

Mon Nov 27 23:32:03 CST 2017

My understanding (not having had time to read it with utmost care, so please tell me if I am wrong) is that nobody is trying to force taxonomists to adopt any particular "definition" of "species", but rather that conservation (and possibly other) "decision makers" should all follow a standard definition. Personally, I don't care what definition of species such "decision makers" use, so I don't see this as a big deal, and I don't see that it will have any impact on taxonomy, just on conservation, etc.

Stephen

--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 28/11/17, Donat Agosti <agosti at amnh.org> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [Taxacom] OK Taxacomers, you have had your chance, now it's the lawyers turn.
 To: "Beach, James H." <beach at ku.edu>, "taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
 Received: Tuesday, 28 November, 2017, 6:23 PM

 I think it is well worth reading
 the entire press release

 "Today, PLF and several allied
 organizations submitted a petition for rule-making to the
 federal agencies that administer the Endangered Species Act.
 The petition asks the agencies to define “species” and
 “subspecies,” terms which, although critical to the
 Act’s operation, are left undefined by statute and
 regulation. Not surprisingly, this lacuna has produced
 inconsistent and arbitrary decision-making (see, e.g., the
 litigious and ongoing debates over the coastal California
 gnatcatcher’s subspecies designation), with landowners
 typically shouldering the burden. The lack of guidance also
 has resulted, according to some critics, in the agencies’
 playing of a “numbers game,” whereby a single species is
 split into multiple species or subspecies, and because each
 resulting taxonomic unit will have fewer numbers and smaller
 ranges, each will be at greater risk of extinction and
 therefore more likely to be listed.

 Our petition seeks an end to the arbitrariness
 through the setting of clear, scientifically defensible and
 politically sensible definitions for the statutory terms
 “species” and “subspecies.” The petition recommends
 that, for the former, the longstanding and well-regarded
 biological species concept be adopted, according to which a
 species is delimited by reproductive isolation. For the
 latter, the petition asks for the adoption of a variant of
 the equally longstanding “75% rule,” pursuant to which
 individuals within a species must be diagnosed accurately at
 least 75% of the time as belonging to putative Subspecies A
 or B or C, etc., using genetic or other biologically
 significant characters.

 Although not universally accepted in the
 scientific community, our proposed definitions are
 scientifically defensible. And in any event, no single
 definition of “species” or “subspecies” will receive
 unanimous support from the scientific community, in part
 because neither term is a pure function of science. Rather,
 both are terms of convenience, deriving their value from
 larger conservation policy. Informing that larger policy is
 the fact that the protection of all populations is
 economically and socially infeasible. Sound conservation
 demands prioritization. Many scientists believe that the
 priority of conservation should be the preservation of
 evolutionary potential—i.e., biodiversity. If that is
 correct, then being choosy about which populations can be
 eligible for protection makes sense as a matter of
 science.

 But it also makes
 for good social policy. Moderating the Act’s economic
 impact through fewer listings—a likely consequence of
 adopting rigorous taxonomic standards that will eliminate
 outmoded classifications—lessens the chance of a public
 backlash that might undercut support for wildlife
 protection. Moreover, time and money that might have been
 spent on protecting insignificant populations instead can be
 directed toward those populations the preservation of which
 best serves biodiversity. We therefore hope that the
 agencies will respond promptly—and favorably—to our
 proposal."

 https://pacificlegal.org/a-petition-to-resolve-the-endangered-species-act-taxonomy-debate/

 -----Original
 Message-----
 From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu]
 On Behalf Of Beach, James H.
 Sent: Monday,
 November 27, 2017 11:39 PM
 To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
 Subject: [Taxacom] OK Taxacomers, you have had
 your chance, now it's the lawyers turn.

 Lawyers decide the definition
 of 'species'.

 From
 the article:

 Today, PLF and
 several allied organizations submitted a petition for
 rule-making<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpacificlegal.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F11%2FESA-Taxonomy-Rulemaking-Petition.pdf&data=01%7C01%7Cagosti%40amnh.org%7C91e0a32c19a4481e38d208d535e7a9d1%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C0&sdata=aIOjzCJXtjQDc%2FlGygLcJCAEfYo2qTcY5NVcq5cowFk%3D&reserved=0>
 to the [U.S.] federal agencies that administer the
 Endangered Species Act.

 ...

 Our
 petition seeks an end to the arbitrariness [of what a
 species is] through the setting of clear, scientifically
 defensible and politically sensible definitions for the
 statutory terms "species" and
 "subspecies." The petition recommends that, for
 the former, the longstanding and well-regarded biological
 species concept be adopted, according to which a species is
 delimited by reproductive isolation. For the latter, the
 petition asks for the adoption of a variant of the equally
 longstanding "75% rule," pursuant to which
 individuals within a species must be diagnosed accurately at
 least 75% of the time as belonging to putative Subspecies A
 or B or C, etc., using genetic or other biologically
 significant characters.

 https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpacificlegal.org%2Fa-petition-to-resolve-the-endangered-species-act-taxonomy-debate%2F&data=01%7C01%7Cagosti%40amnh.org%7C91e0a32c19a4481e38d208d535e7a9d1%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C0&sdata=rnLVzOQsySGqS3rDRcwNp8T5Dy4cyG%2F71UBejRo21j8%3D&reserved=0

 James H. Beach
 Biodiversity Institute
 University of Kansas
 1345
 Jayhawk Boulevard
 Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
 Office: 785-864-4645
 Cell:
 785-331-8508
 Zoom: https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkansas.zoom.us%2Fmy%2Fspecify&data=01%7C01%7Cagosti%40amnh.org%7C91e0a32c19a4481e38d208d535e7a9d1%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C0&sdata=%2B4m7S8zhrhdfku44qF6xm8C0tZfLRoV3JnJ4x892J7o%3D&reserved=0

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