Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology
- Autores
- Bortolus, Alejandro
- Año de publicación
- 2008
- Idioma
- inglés
- Tipo de recurso
- artículo
- Estado
- versión publicada
- Descripción
- Why do ecologists seem to underestimate the consequences of using bad taxonomy? Is it because the consequences of doing so have not been yet scrutinized well enough? Is it because these consequences are irrelevant? In this paper I examine and discuss these questions, focusing on the fact that because ecological works provide baseline information for many other biological disciplines, they play a key role in spreading and magnifying the abundance of a variety of conceptual and methodological errors. Although overlooked and underestimated, this cascade-like process originates from trivial taxonomical problems that affect hypotheses and ideas, but it soon shifts into a profound practical problem affecting our knowledge about nature, as well as the ecosystem structure and functioning and the efficiency of human health care programs. In order to improve the intercommunication among disciplines, I propose a set of specific requirements that peer reviewed journals should request from all authors, and I also advocate for urgent institutional and financial support directed at reinvigorating the formation of scientific collections that integrate taxonomy and ecology.
Fil: Bortolus, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina - Materia
-
Ecologia
Taxonomia
errores - Nivel de accesibilidad
- acceso abierto
- Condiciones de uso
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
- Repositorio
- Institución
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
- OAI Identificador
- oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/100301
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Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in EcologyBortolus, AlejandroEcologiaTaxonomiaerroreshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Why do ecologists seem to underestimate the consequences of using bad taxonomy? Is it because the consequences of doing so have not been yet scrutinized well enough? Is it because these consequences are irrelevant? In this paper I examine and discuss these questions, focusing on the fact that because ecological works provide baseline information for many other biological disciplines, they play a key role in spreading and magnifying the abundance of a variety of conceptual and methodological errors. Although overlooked and underestimated, this cascade-like process originates from trivial taxonomical problems that affect hypotheses and ideas, but it soon shifts into a profound practical problem affecting our knowledge about nature, as well as the ecosystem structure and functioning and the efficiency of human health care programs. In order to improve the intercommunication among disciplines, I propose a set of specific requirements that peer reviewed journals should request from all authors, and I also advocate for urgent institutional and financial support directed at reinvigorating the formation of scientific collections that integrate taxonomy and ecology.Fil: Bortolus, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaRoyal Swedish Acad Sciences2008-03info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/100301Bortolus, Alejandro; Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology; Royal Swedish Acad Sciences; Ambio; 37; 2; 3-2008; 114-1180044-7447CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://bioone.org/journals/ambio-a-journal-of-the-human-environment/volume-37/issue-2/0044-7447(2008)37%5b114%3aECITBS%5d2.0.CO%3b2/Error-Cascades-in-the-Biological-Sciences--The-Unwanted-Consequences/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[114:ECITBS]2.0.CO;2.shortinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[114:ECITBS]2.0.CO;2info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T10:29:13Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/100301instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 10:29:13.36CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology |
title |
Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology Bortolus, Alejandro Ecologia Taxonomia errores |
title_short |
Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology |
title_full |
Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology |
title_fullStr |
Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology |
title_full_unstemmed |
Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology |
title_sort |
Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology |
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Bortolus, Alejandro |
author |
Bortolus, Alejandro |
author_facet |
Bortolus, Alejandro |
author_role |
author |
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Ecologia Taxonomia errores |
topic |
Ecologia Taxonomia errores |
purl_subject.fl_str_mv |
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv |
Why do ecologists seem to underestimate the consequences of using bad taxonomy? Is it because the consequences of doing so have not been yet scrutinized well enough? Is it because these consequences are irrelevant? In this paper I examine and discuss these questions, focusing on the fact that because ecological works provide baseline information for many other biological disciplines, they play a key role in spreading and magnifying the abundance of a variety of conceptual and methodological errors. Although overlooked and underestimated, this cascade-like process originates from trivial taxonomical problems that affect hypotheses and ideas, but it soon shifts into a profound practical problem affecting our knowledge about nature, as well as the ecosystem structure and functioning and the efficiency of human health care programs. In order to improve the intercommunication among disciplines, I propose a set of specific requirements that peer reviewed journals should request from all authors, and I also advocate for urgent institutional and financial support directed at reinvigorating the formation of scientific collections that integrate taxonomy and ecology. Fil: Bortolus, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina |
description |
Why do ecologists seem to underestimate the consequences of using bad taxonomy? Is it because the consequences of doing so have not been yet scrutinized well enough? Is it because these consequences are irrelevant? In this paper I examine and discuss these questions, focusing on the fact that because ecological works provide baseline information for many other biological disciplines, they play a key role in spreading and magnifying the abundance of a variety of conceptual and methodological errors. Although overlooked and underestimated, this cascade-like process originates from trivial taxonomical problems that affect hypotheses and ideas, but it soon shifts into a profound practical problem affecting our knowledge about nature, as well as the ecosystem structure and functioning and the efficiency of human health care programs. In order to improve the intercommunication among disciplines, I propose a set of specific requirements that peer reviewed journals should request from all authors, and I also advocate for urgent institutional and financial support directed at reinvigorating the formation of scientific collections that integrate taxonomy and ecology. |
publishDate |
2008 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2008-03 |
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/100301 Bortolus, Alejandro; Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology; Royal Swedish Acad Sciences; Ambio; 37; 2; 3-2008; 114-118 0044-7447 CONICET Digital CONICET |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/100301 |
identifier_str_mv |
Bortolus, Alejandro; Error Cascades in the Biological Sciences: The Unwanted Consequences of Using Bad Taxonomy in Ecology; Royal Swedish Acad Sciences; Ambio; 37; 2; 3-2008; 114-118 0044-7447 CONICET Digital CONICET |
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://bioone.org/journals/ambio-a-journal-of-the-human-environment/volume-37/issue-2/0044-7447(2008)37%5b114%3aECITBS%5d2.0.CO%3b2/Error-Cascades-in-the-Biological-Sciences--The-Unwanted-Consequences/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[114:ECITBS]2.0.CO;2.short info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[114:ECITBS]2.0.CO;2 |
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ |
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openAccess |
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ |
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application/pdf application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Royal Swedish Acad Sciences |
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Royal Swedish Acad Sciences |
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CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
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dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar |
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