Taxonomy: Impediment or Expedient?

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Abstract
Society has a growing need for credible taxonomic information in order to allow us to conserve, manage, understand, and enjoy the natural world. At the same time support for tax- onomy and collections is failing to keep pace. Funds nominally allocated to taxonomy go largely to reconstruct molecular phylogenies, while thousands of species are threatened by im- minent extinction. Ecologists working in the tropics have felt this lack of taxonomic knowl- edge as an impediment that inhibits their ability to analyze community-level phenomena. It is time to evaluate the sources of this impediment and address them. Taxonomy must facilitate, not obstruct biodiversity studies and conservation. Existing taxonomic practices have served us well for centuries, but are clearly inadequate for the chal- lenge at hand. The taxonomic community must rally around a common vision, critically evalu- ate its needs, set an ambitious research agenda, embrace emerging technologies, and univocally communicate its aspirations. This will require a major change in approach, engaging individual scholars, professional societies, and institutions. Molecular data, abundant and inexpensive, have revolutionized phylogenetics but not diminished the importance of traditional work. Mor-

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