Herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery.
Despite the importance of species discovery, the processes including collecting, recognizing, and describing new species are poorly understood. Data are presented for flowering plants, measuring quantitatively the lag between the date a specimen of a new species was collected for the first time and...
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| Fformat: | Journal article |
| Iaith: | English |
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2010
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| _version_ | 1826293925895208960 |
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| author | Bebber, D Carine, M Wood, JR Wortley, A Harris, D Prance, G Davidse, G Paige, J Pennington, T Robson, N Scotland, R |
| author_facet | Bebber, D Carine, M Wood, JR Wortley, A Harris, D Prance, G Davidse, G Paige, J Pennington, T Robson, N Scotland, R |
| author_sort | Bebber, D |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Despite the importance of species discovery, the processes including collecting, recognizing, and describing new species are poorly understood. Data are presented for flowering plants, measuring quantitatively the lag between the date a specimen of a new species was collected for the first time and when it was subsequently described and published. The data from our sample of new species published between 1970 and 2010 show that only 16% were described within five years of being collected for the first time. The description of the remaining 84% involved much older specimens, with nearly one-quarter of new species descriptions involving specimens >50 y old. Extrapolation of these results suggest that, of the estimated 70,000 species still to be described, more than half already have been collected and are stored in herbaria. Effort, funding, and research focus should, therefore, be directed as much to examining extant herbarium material as collecting new material in the field. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:37:43Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:bcd68116-bc4b-46ba-990d-c2f7f93485a6 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:37:43Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:bcd68116-bc4b-46ba-990d-c2f7f93485a62022-03-27T05:27:31ZHerbaria are a major frontier for species discovery.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:bcd68116-bc4b-46ba-990d-c2f7f93485a6EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Bebber, DCarine, MWood, JRWortley, AHarris, DPrance, GDavidse, GPaige, JPennington, TRobson, NScotland, RDespite the importance of species discovery, the processes including collecting, recognizing, and describing new species are poorly understood. Data are presented for flowering plants, measuring quantitatively the lag between the date a specimen of a new species was collected for the first time and when it was subsequently described and published. The data from our sample of new species published between 1970 and 2010 show that only 16% were described within five years of being collected for the first time. The description of the remaining 84% involved much older specimens, with nearly one-quarter of new species descriptions involving specimens >50 y old. Extrapolation of these results suggest that, of the estimated 70,000 species still to be described, more than half already have been collected and are stored in herbaria. Effort, funding, and research focus should, therefore, be directed as much to examining extant herbarium material as collecting new material in the field. |
| spellingShingle | Bebber, D Carine, M Wood, JR Wortley, A Harris, D Prance, G Davidse, G Paige, J Pennington, T Robson, N Scotland, R Herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery. |
| title | Herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery. |
| title_full | Herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery. |
| title_fullStr | Herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery. |
| title_short | Herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery. |
| title_sort | herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bebberd herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT carinem herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT woodjr herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT wortleya herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT harrisd herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT pranceg herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT davidseg herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT paigej herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT penningtont herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT robsonn herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery AT scotlandr herbariaareamajorfrontierforspeciesdiscovery |