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Catalogue of Life

About: Catalogue of Life is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 55 publications have been published within this topic receiving 2051 citations. The topic is also known as: The Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life & Catalogue of Life: 2015 Annual Checklist.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
29 Apr 2015-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: A consensus classification of life to embrace the more than 1.6 million species already provided by more than 3,000 taxonomists’ expert opinions in a unified and coherent, hierarchically ranked system known as the Catalogue of Life is presented.
Abstract: We present a consensus classification of life to embrace the more than 1.6 million species already provided by more than 3,000 taxonomists’ expert opinions in a unified and coherent, hierarchically ranked system known as the Catalogue of Life (CoL). The intent of this collaborative effort is to provide a hierarchical classification serving not only the needs of the CoL’s database providers but also the diverse public-domain user community, most of whom are familiar with the Linnaean conceptual system of ordering taxon relationships. This classification is neither phylogenetic nor evolutionary but instead represents a consensus view that accommodates taxonomic choices and practical compromises among diverse expert opinions, public usages, and conflicting evidence about the boundaries between taxa and the ranks of major taxa, including kingdoms. Certain key issues, some not fully resolved, are addressed in particular. Beyond its immediate use as a management tool for the CoL and ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System), it is immediately valuable as a reference for taxonomic and biodiversity research, as a tool for societal communication, and as a classificatory “backbone” for biodiversity databases, museum collections, libraries, and textbooks. Such a modern comprehensive hierarchy has not previously existed at this level of specificity.

347 citations

Dataset
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: A digital resource, which aims to become a comprehensive catalogue of all known species of organisms on Earth.
Abstract: A digital resource, which aims to become a comprehensive catalogue of all known species of organisms on Earth

298 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is considered that marine species comprise only 16% of all species on Earth although the oceans contain a greater phylogenetic diversity than occurs on land, and it is predicted that there may be 1.8-2.0 million species onEarth, significantly less than some previous estimates.
Abstract: We found that trends in the rate of description of 580,000 marine and terrestrial species, in the taxonomically authoritative World Register of Marine Species and Catalogue of Life databases, were similar until the 1950s. Since then, the relative number of marine to terrestrial species described per year has increased, reflecting the less explored nature of the oceans. From the mid-19th century, the cumulative number of species described has been linear, with the highest number of species described in the decade of 1900, and fewer species described and fewer authors active during the World Wars. There were more authors describing species since the 1960s, indicating greater taxonomic effort. There were fewer species described per author since the 1920s, suggesting it has become more difficult to discover new species. There was no evidence of any change in individual effort by taxonomists. Using a nonhomogeneous renewal process model we predicted that 24-31% to 21-29% more marine and terrestrial species remain to be discovered, respectively. We discuss why we consider that marine species comprise only 16% of all species on Earth although the oceans contain a greater phylogenetic diversity than occurs on land. We predict that there may be 1.8-2.0 million species on Earth, of which about 0.3 million are marine, significantly less than some previous estimates. (Biodiversity; biogeography; deep-sea modeling; macroecology; marine; taxonomy; terrestrial.)

228 citations

ComponentDOI
01 May 2008-Taxon
TL;DR: Progress to date suggests that neither broad distribution nor large numbers of species in a family are insurmountable problems in compiling working lists, and the major barrier to completion of Target 1 remains the availability of taxonomists to contribute to the target.
Abstract: Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) is, "a widely accessible working list of all known plant species, as a step towards a complete world Flora". This paper discusses the importance of the Target to the GSPC itself, to many sectors of science and society, and to decision makers. It then examines the progress made to date and prospects for the Target's completion. Good progress has been made in bryophytes, ferns and gymnosperms with widely accessible working lists either complete or almost so for these groups. Online working lists are available for around 50% of flowering plants. In all, Target 1 is around 53% complete. It is estimated that there are around 352,000 flowering plants and that the current gap in online coverage is around 177,000 species. The major families constituting the gap are identified, the four largest being Apocynaceae, Malvaceae, Ericaceae and Apiaceae. The large majority of families for which there is no working list available are either cosmopolitan or pantropical in distribution. However, progress to date suggests that neither broad distribution nor large numbers of species in a family are insurmountable problems in compiling working lists. The major barrier to completion of Target 1 remains the availability of taxonomists to contribute to the target. Completion of Target 1 by 2010 is possible if botanical institutions recognise the importance of the Target and collaborate, lever funding and prioritise activities appropriately.

150 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20214
20202
20194
20182
20171
20162