What Species Mean : A User’s Guide to the Units of Biodiversity PDF
Preview What Species Mean : A User’s Guide to the Units of Biodiversity
What Species Mean A User’s Guide to the Units of Biodiversity SPECIES AND SYSTEMATICS The Species and Systematics series will investigate the theory and practice of sys tematics, phylogenetics, and taxonomy and explore their importance to biology in a series of comprehensive volumes aimed at students and researchers in biology and in the history and philosophy of biology. The book series will examine the role of bio logical diversity studies at all levels of organization and focus on the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of research in biodiversity dynamics. The philosoph ical consequences of classification, integrative taxonomy, and future implications of rapidly expanding data and technologies will be among the themes explored by this series. Approaches to topics in Species and Systematics may include detailed studies of systematic methods, empirical studies of exemplar taxonomic groups, and historical treatises on central concepts in systematics. Editor in Chief: Kipling Will (University of California, Berkeley) Editorial Board Sandra Carlson (University of California, Davis, USA) Marcelo R. de Carvalho (University of Sao Paulo, Brazil) Darren Curnoe (University of New South Wales, Australia) Malte C. Ebach (University of New South Wales, Australia) Christina Flann (Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis, The Netherlands) Anthonoy C. Gill (Smithsonian Institution, USA) Mark S. Harvey (Western Australian Museum, Australia) David R. Maddison (Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA) Olivier Rieppel (The Field Museum, Chicago, USA) Felix Sperling (Strickland Museum of Entomology, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) David M. Williams (The Natural History Museum, London, UK) René Zaragüeta i Bagils (University of Paris 6, France) Science Publisher: Charles R. Crumly, CRC Press/Taylor and Francis For more information visit: www.crcpress.com/SpeciesandSystematics/bookseries/CRCSPEANDSYS What Species Mean A User’s Guide to the Units of Biodiversity Julia D. Sigwart CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2018 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed on acid-free paper International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-9937-9 (Hardback) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher can- not assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. 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CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Sigwart, Julia, author. Title: What species mean : a user’s guide to the units of biodiversity / Julia Sigwart. Other titles: Species and systematics. Description: Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis, 2018. | Series: Species and systematics series Identifiers: LCCN 2018013228 | ISBN 9781498799379 (hardback : alk. paper) Subjects: | MESH: Biological Evolution | Phylogeny | Biodiversity | Species Specificity Classification: LCC QH380 | NLM QH 380 | DDC 576.8/6--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018013228 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com For Rory, Xochi, Áine, Aza, Cormac, Cozy, Kate, Ezra, and Molly Contents Series Preface ............................................................................................................xi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................xiii Author ......................................................................................................................xv Chapter 1 Introduction ..........................................................................................1 Chapter 2 General Concepts .................................................................................7 Chapter 3 Everyone Uses Species .......................................................................11 The Advantages of Understanding Species ........................................11 Putting Names to Faces ......................................................................12 Identity Politics: When Species Matter to Us.....................................13 How to Identify Differentness ............................................................18 Differences of Opinion with Consequences .......................................20 How to Separate Species ....................................................................22 Species Criteria ..................................................................................24 Everyone Uses Species .......................................................................25 References ..........................................................................................26 Chapter 4 Why Do the Names Keep Changing? ................................................31 To Improve Is to Change ....................................................................31 Colonialism, Revision, and the Type Concept ...................................31 Taxonomic Surrogacy.........................................................................34 Names Carry Important Information .................................................35 How Do Names Change and How Can You Tell What Happened? ...37 Species Novelty and Reclassification .................................................40 The Type Concept Revisited ..............................................................44 Revision End Game ............................................................................46 References ..........................................................................................50 Chapter 5 Species Are Units of Evolution ..........................................................53 Variation .............................................................................................53 Plasticity and Adaptation ...................................................................56 Selection and Sufficiency in the Moment ...........................................59 Microevolution and Macroevolution ..................................................64 Experimental Approaches ..................................................................66 Macroevolution and Species Identity .................................................68 References ..........................................................................................70 vii viii Contents Chapter 6 Natural Patterns in Classification .......................................................75 Frames of Reference ...........................................................................75 Taxonomy and Systematics ................................................................77 The Linnaean System .........................................................................79 Relativism and Regulation .................................................................83 Tree Thinking .....................................................................................86 The Problem with Paraphyly (Part 1: Genera) ...................................88 The Application of Ranks ..................................................................93 The Problem with Paraphyly (Part 2: A higher problem) ..................94 Ranks and Communication ................................................................96 References ..........................................................................................97 Chapter 7 Are Species Real? .............................................................................101 Background ......................................................................................101 Species Metaphysics .........................................................................101 From Aristotle to the Origin ............................................................104 The Modern Synthesis and Beyond .................................................107 Species ‘Concepts’ Are Lines of Evidence ......................................109 Species in Time ................................................................................110 Total Evidence and the New Pluralism ............................................113 The Species Category .......................................................................115 Species Are Real; Species Descriptions Are Hypotheses ................116 References ........................................................................................118 Chapter 8 How to Name a Species ....................................................................123 Who Are the Makers of Names? ......................................................123 Pronunciation ...............................................................................125 Writing and Syntax ......................................................................126 Endings and Name Changes ........................................................128 Plural and Singular ......................................................................128 Integrity and Humility .................................................................129 History and the Role of Collections .................................................129 A StepbyStep Guide ......................................................................132 References ........................................................................................143 Chapter 9 Biodiversity and Extinction through Time .......................................147 Extinction Is a Natural Part of Evolution .........................................147 Living ‘Fossils’ Are Still Evolving ...................................................151 Extinct Species Outnumber Living Species .....................................155 Fossils Fill the Gaps .........................................................................159 Is Diversity on Earth Decreasing?....................................................161 References ........................................................................................166 Contents ix Chapter 10 How Many Species Are There? ........................................................171 The Great Global Census .................................................................171 UnderStudied Taxa ..........................................................................172 Approaches to Estimating Global Species Richness ........................174 Why Is this Problem so Hard? .........................................................175 The Importance of Higher Ranks ....................................................179 If It Doesn’t Have a Name, It Doesn’t Exist .....................................180 How Many Species Are Still Undiscovered? ...................................182 References ........................................................................................183 Chapter 11 Dynamic Patterns in Biodiversity ....................................................187 What Determines Biodiversity Patterns? .........................................187 Impacts of the Very Recent Past ......................................................188 Impacts of Invasive Species .............................................................191 The Latitudinal Diversity Gradient ..................................................193 Biogeographic Patterns and ‘Rules’ .................................................198 Life Is Resilient ................................................................................201 References ........................................................................................203 Chapter 12 Translating Biodiversity across Cultural Barriers ............................209 Makers and Users of Species Names ...............................................209 Misconception: Taxonomy is done by ‘someone else’ ................210 Misconception: Taxonomy is easy now, because you can just sequence things............................................................................210 Misconception: Taxonomic papers never get cited......................211 Misconception: Biodiversity is wellknown ................................212 Geographic and Cultural Divides.....................................................213 Quantifying Species Richness .........................................................215 Taxonomy Is Scientific Infrastructure ..............................................216 International Law, Biodiversity, and Benefit Sharing ......................220 International Law and the Movement of Specimens ........................223 The Fallacy of Economics ................................................................225 Cultural Ownership of Biodiversity .................................................226 References ........................................................................................228 Species and Systematics .......................................................................................233 Index ......................................................................................................................235
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