Taxonomy: Naming & Cataloguing organisms

amazed

Research: Taxonomy in crisis

2009/08/09
Faezah Ismail

Taxonomy is the science of identifying, naming and cataloguing organisms into systems of classification. The challenge is to encourage more students to go into the field.

MANY may dismiss insects as insignificant but Japanese
entomologist and leaf beetle taxonomist Dr Haruo Matsuzawa simply adore them.

Sadly, bigger animals get all the attention while the discovery
of a new species of beetles, for example, often escapes the
[/table][table]Haruo Matsuzawa collected, identified and
curated all the beetles that he collected in Sabah.
notice of major newspapers.



The 64-year-old researcher at Tokyo University of Agriculture
regrets that very much.

It would be a mistake to ignore beetles because they make good indicator species.

Beetles are the most species rich insect among other groups of insects. Many species are easily affected when the environment is disturbed causing some resources — food and habitat, among others — to go.

They cannot survive when these resources are gone.

That way scientists can monitor what is taking place in the forest.

Until recently, Matsuzawa was a senior volunteer under a programme sponsored by the government-affiliated Japan
International Cooperation Agency at the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ITBC), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

“Basically he contributed his expertise in the area of leaf beetle taxonomy,” says ITBC deputy director Dr Bakhtiar Effendi Yahya, who was Matsuzawa’s counterpart.


One the institute’s research thrusts is Biodiversity and
Taxonomy, and Matsuzawa “helped to improve our collection and knowledge”.

Taxonomists spend long hours in laboratories, says Bakhtiar Effendi Yahya.

“The collaboration has been on logistics where we assisted him in
collecting beetles in Sabah.

“At the same time, he collected, identified and curated all the beetles that he collected in Sabah and kept them in our insect collection room.”

UMS flora and fauna collection centre is called the BORNEENSIS and it consists of four major collection rooms (insects; plants; vertebrates; wet collection).

During his two-year stint at the institute, Matsuzawa “has helped us to increase our insect collection especially leaf beetles”.

The Japanese expert also trained staff and students on the identification of beetles in addition to supervising the work of some undergraduate students.

Sabah gave Matsuzawa the chance to collect beetles, an interest which began during his boyhood days when he and his brother would scour the countryside of the Kanto area, near Tokyo for beetles and butterflies.

He had visited almost all the forested areas in Sabah. He was usually on the field alone, joining students occasionally.

In two years, Matsuzawa has gathered between 1,200 and 1,300 specimens of leaf beetles.

“Some 200 to 300 could be new species. My impression is that some leaf beetles are decreasing in this area,” says Matsuzawa.

“It is necessary to publish an encyclopaedia or start a website
so that everybody knows about the research activities that will
support the development of the field.”

Some 45,000 species of leaf beetles are known in the world.

Matsuzawa’s eyes light up when he speaks about collecting,
counting and classifying specimens of leaf beetles and is saddened by the declining interest in the field of taxonomy.

Entomologists study insects and their relationships to the
environment, humans and other organisms while taxonomists identify, name and catalogue organisms into systems.

“We are not fashionable now,” says Matsuzawa. “Everywhere and in Japan too it is difficult to get new students to pursue taxonomy.

“Malaysia has an extreme shortage of taxonomists,” says Bakhtiar, whose area of specialisation is insect taxonomy
specifically ants.

“There are not many qualified taxonomists in Malaysia to train
students,” says Bakhtiar.

“Taxonomists spend long hours in laboratories examining thousands of insect specimens one by one. It takes time to train and produce a taxonomist,” he adds.

A passion for insects is an essential prerequisite for the job. Add dedication to that.

Indeed, taxonomists cast in the mould of Matsuzawa are hard to find.

They are by reputation quiet and retiring, and preferring, one
suspects, the company of insects to humans.

There is nothing they like better than be outdoors with a pair of binoculars to spend some quality time with their organism of choice.

Limited job opportunities may be one reason why aspiring
researchers shy away from taxonomy.

As Science Careers (http://sciencecareers.sciencemag ... 1692941400598529112) puts it: “Taxonomy, one of the oldest branches of biology, has
a certain gray nobility about it but in the era of genomics and
other ‘omics, few would call the old field sexy.

“Taxonomists, after all, rarely start science-based mega conglomerates, make angel investments in promising biotech start-ups, or win headlines and seven- and eight-figure grants from federal funding agencies.”

That may be true but the rapid loss of biodiversity makes
taxonomists look very attractive now.

They are urgently required to identify, name and classify
species before they disappear.

Japan needs many taxonomists especially insect taxonomists, says Matsuzawa.

That means jobs for students who are interested in the field.

In the case of Malaysia, “we have to depend on experts from
overseas”, says Bakhtiar.

It is sad that Malaysia, which is known as one of the megadiverse
countries in the world, has few people working on its flora and fauna.

“Many European and American institutions are charging an expensive rate of service for identification of a single specimen. Due to national and ethical demands, all these overseas institutions are required to return part of our specimens. But who will work on them here if we don’t train people now?” asks Bakhtiar.

“A student at UMS completed his final-year project on leaf
beetles last year. There are lots of potential students out there.

What we need are dedicated teachers.”