Taxonomy faces extinction in UK as cash dries up

The scientists who discover, describe and classify new species are facing extinction, writes Steve Farrar.

According to the House of Lords science and technology select committee, systematic biology is in crisis in the UK.

It called on the Higher Education Funding Council for England to investigate how the research assessment exercise, by failing to provide sufficient funds, had contributed to the decline of a field that underpins conservation in universities.

It said that the government should draw up a clear strategy for systematic biology in the UK and boost aid to the institutions housing key collections, such as the Natural History Museum and the botanical gardens in Edinburgh and Kew.

In a report published yesterday, What on Earth? The Threat to the Science Underpinning Conservation , the Lords say they have found compelling evidence that the level of expertise was falling, echoing the conclusions of a similar investigation by the committee ten years ago.

Some funds have been provided for academic work but witnesses told the committee that the area was not prioritised by the universities and the lack of publications associated with taxonomy meant it performed poorly in the RAE.

"Without systematic biology, ecologists and conservationists do not know which species exist within ecosystems and cannot discover which are thriving and which are under threat of extinction," the report says.

Just 1.7 million of the estimated 5 million-13 million species of living organism have been identified and new ones are constantly coming to light. Only recently, a new fungus was found growing at Kew.