Communication
Chaodong Zhu, Arong Luo, Ming Bai, Michael C. Orr, Zhonge Hou, Siqin Ge, Jun Chen, Yibo Hu, Xuming Zhou, Gexia Qiao, Hongzhi Kong, Limin Lu, Xiaohua Jin, Lei Cai, Xinli Wei, Ruilin Zhao, Wei Miao, Qingfeng Wang, Zhongli Sha, Qiang Lin, Meng Qu, Jianping Jiang, Jiatang Li, Jing Che, Xuelong Jiang, Xiaoyong Chen, Lianming Gao, Zongxin Ren, Chunlei Xiang, Shixiao Luo, Donghui Wu, Dong Liu, Yanqiong Peng, Tao Su, Chenyang Cai, Tianqi Zhu, Wanzhi Cai, Xingyue Liu, Hu Li, Huaijun Xue, Zhen Ye, Xuexin Chen, Pu Tang, Shujun Wei, Hong Pang, Qiang Xie, Feng Zhang, Feng Zhang, Xianjin Peng, Aibing Zhang, Taiping Gao, Changfa Zhou, Chen Shao, Libin Ma, Zhaoming Wei, Yunxia Luan, Ziwei Yin, Wu Dai, Cong Wei, Xiaolei Huang, Jingxian Liu, Xiangsheng Chen, Tianci Yi, Zhisheng Zhang, Zhulidezi Aishan, Qin Li, Hongying Hu
Taxonomy plays an important role in understanding the origin, evolution, and ecological functionality of biodiversity. There are large number of unknown species yet to be described by taxonomists, which together with their ecosystem services cannot be effectively protected prior to description. Despite this, taxonomy has been increasingly underrated insufficient funds and permanent positions to retain young talents. Further, the impact factor-driven evaluation systems in China exacerbate this downward trend, so alternative evaluation metrics are urgently necessary. When the current generation of outstanding taxonomists retires, there will be too few remaining taxonomists left to train the next generation. In light of these challenges, all co-authors worked together on this paper to analyze the current situation of taxonomy and put out a joint call for immediate actions to advance taxonomy in China.
