TENDUA

Traditional taxonomic classification or phylogenetics?

Myriam Dupuis — 2011-12-21T13:25:34Z

The traditional taxonomic classification is based on the most obvious similarities between species. It has been put in place long before the idea of evolution has emerged.
Thus, using the most visible characters, the traditional classification does not accurately estimate the degree of relatedness between species, and it was not its original purpose. However, it is useful for species recognition with identification keys, or for the management of biological collections. It is easily usable by the general public. Under this classification, a fish will always be close to another fish of another species not fish.
This is actually not always true. Indeed, fish are characterized by scales and fins. Yet humans share with some fish species, such as coelacanths, another character: the fleshy and not radiated member. This last character is not present in the trout, for example. Is a coelacanth closer to a human than a trout? What should be used to establish the closest relatives: the fleshy member or the presence of fins?

In the 1950s, phylogenetic classification was created. It is a system of classification of living things whose purpose is to report the degree of relatedness between species. This makes it possible to understand their evolutionary history (or phylogeny). It does not recognize certain groups such as reptiles or fish unlike the conventional classification.
Phylogenetic classification has replaced the traditional classification in most of the scientific community and in secondary education in France.

CITES

Fabrice Borgese — 2011-11-02T23:19:45Z

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement to which States (countries) adhere voluntarily. It is also called the “Washington Convention”. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. States that have agreed to be bound by the Convention ('joined' CITES) are known as Parties. Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties – in other words they have to implement the Convention – it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level. For many years CITES has been among the conservation agreements with the largest membership, with now 173 Parties. In force since 1975, the Convention regulates the border crossing of more than 33000 species. It applies to animals and plants, alive or dead, whole or parts, wildlife products and objects (also called specimens). The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios and medicines.

More than 5000 animal species and 28000 plant species are covered by CITES and listed in three Appendices , according to the degree of protection they need.

APPENDIX I

Includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

APPENDIX II

Includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.

APPENDIX III

Contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade.
Changes to Appendix III follow a distinct procedure from changes to Appendices I and II, as each Party's is entitled to make unilateral amendments to it.

A specimen of a CITES-listed species may be imported into or exported (or re-exported) from a State Party to the Convention only if the appropriate document has been obtained and presented for clearance at the port of entry or exit. There is some variation of the requirements from one country to another and it is always necessary to check on the national laws that may be stricter. The relevant authorities deliver the appropriate documents only if they are convinced that the specimens have been obtained in a legal way and that it does not affect the status of the species.

The IUCN “Red” List

Fabrice Borgese — 2011-11-02T23:09:03Z

IUCN was founded in October 1948 as the International Union for the Protection of Nature (or IUPN) following an international conference in Fontainebleau, France. The organization changed its name to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1956 with the acronym IUCN (or UICN in French and Spanish). This remains the full legal name to this day. IUCN helps the world find pragmatic solutions to most pressing environment and development challenges. It supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world's oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 140 countries, grouped in six Commissions. IUCN's work is supported by over 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. The Union's headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland.

One of the IUCN missions is to establish and regularly update a “red list” of threatened animals and plants species . IUCN elaborated a list of rigorous and recognized criteria that allow to evaluate the risk of extinction and, then, to classify the species into one of the nine categories of this red list.

©M. Dupuis - Red Sea coral hind or jewel grouper classified Data Deficient

Cephalopolis miniata - Data Deficient

M. Dupuis

EXTINCT (EX)

A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.

EXTINCT IN THE WILD (EW)

A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalized population (or populations) well outside the past range.

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (CR)

A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Critically Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

ENDANGERED (EN)

A taxon is Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

©M. Dupuis - Cheetah classified Vulnerable

Acinonyx jubatus - Vulnerable

M. Dupuis

VULNERABLE (VU)

A taxon is Vulnerable when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable, and it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

NEAR THREATENED (NT)

A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against the criteria but does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for, or is likely to qualify for, a threatened category in the near future.

©M. Dupuis - Spotted dear juvenile classified Low Concern

Axis axis - Least Concern

M. Dupuis

LEAST CONCERN (LC)

A taxon is Least Concern when it has been evaluated against the criteria and does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

DATA DEFICIENT (DD)

A taxon is Data Deficient when there is inadequate information to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution and/or population status. A taxon in this category may be well studied, and its biology well known, but appropriate data on abundance and/or distribution are lacking.

NOT EVALUATED (NE)

A taxon is Not Evaluated when it has not been studied by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Little Glossary about Biodiversity

Fabrice Borgese — 2011-10-09T22:39:06Z

Allochthonous

Found in a place other than its original aera.

Anthropogenic

Related to human activity. Qualifies any evidence directly or indirectly caused by human activities, as opposed to those occurring in natural environments without human influences .

Autochthonous

A plant or animal that grows or lives naturally in a place.

Biodiversity

Is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems. The biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species, which is the product of nearly 3.5 billion years of evolution.

Biogeography

Is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, at what abundance.

Biomass

(Ecology) Refers to the quantity of living biological material that corresponds to a specific surface or volume. The overall weight of all the individuals of a particular species is the biomass of that species.

Biotope

Is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, but while the subject of a habitat is a species or a population, the subject of a biotope is a biological community. The word biotope, literally translated, means an area where life lives.

Canopy

Is one of the uppermost levels of a forest, below the emergent layer, formed by the tree crowns.

Commensalism

Is a kind of symbiotic relationship between two organisms where one benefits and the other is not significantly harmed or helped (like a bird living in a tree). There is no apparent benefit or harm to either member of the association. A problem with commensal relationships is that if you look at one long enough and hard enough, you often discover that at least one member is being helped or harmed during the association.

Ecosystem

Is a natural unit consisting ofall plants, animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) in a particular area, and the way in which they are related to each other and to the non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment .

Endemic

Is always present in a particular place (country, region, archipelago, island...) that you can not find naturally elsewhere.

Foliage

All the leaves of a plant or a tree.

Introduced

A species is defined as introduced (also known as non-indigenous, alien or exotic) in a certain geographical area, if that area is outside the species' native distributional range, and the species has arrived there by human activity.

Juvenile

An individual organism after birth (hatching, germination, etc), that has not yet reached its adult form, maturity or size.

Native

About a species which is naturally present on a specific area.

Oviparous

Method of animal reproduction in which eggs are laid by the female and develop outside the body, in contrast to ovoviviparous and viviparous. It is the most common form of reproduction.

Ovoviviparous

Is a zoological term that refers to animals that produce eggs but retain them inside the female body until hatching occurs, so that “live” offspring are born. The egg-hatching strategy of ovoviviparity occurs in a rather wide diversity of animals, including certain insects, fish, lizards, and snakes. However, ovoviviparity is much less common than the external development of fertilized eggs (that is, oviparity).

Parasitism

Is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species. The parasite benefits from a prolonged, close association with the host, which is harmed. In biology, the term parasite refers to an organism that grows, feeds and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.

Pelagic

Relating to or living in or on oceanic waters ; about a marine animal (bird, fish, mammals) living in open sea most of the year, far from the bottom and any substratum. The pelagic zone of the ocean begins at the low tide mark and includes the entire oceanic water column.

Restoration ecology

Is the study of renewing a degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystem through active human intervention.

Subspecies

In zoology, as in other branches of biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. The characteristics attributed to subspecies are generally derived from changes that have taken place or evolved as a result of geographical distribution or isolation from the primary species or nominate form, also called nominate subspecies.

Speciation

Is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. There are four modes of natural speciation, based on the extent to which speciating populations are geographically isolated from one another: allopatric, peripatric, parapatric, and sympatric. Speciation may also be induced artificially, through animal husbandry or laboratory experiments.

Subadult

An individual that has passed through the juvenile period but not yet attained typical adult characteristics.

Substrate

The surface on or in which plants, algae or animals, such as barnacles or clams, live or grow. A substrate may serve as a source of food for an organism or simply provide support. Silt and sand are soft substrates.

Symbiosis

The relationship between two different living things that depend on each other for particular advantages.

Taxon (plural taxa)

Or taxonomic unit, is a name designating an organism or a group of organisms. In biological nomenclature according to Carl Linnaeus, a taxon is assigned a taxonomic rank and can be placed at a particular level in a systematic hierarchy reflecting evolutionary relationships}
Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom, Domain, Life.

Taxonomy

The process of organizing things such as plants or animals into different groups or sets that show their natural relationship. Taxonomic rank (rank, category, taxonomic category) is an abstract term used in the scientific classification, or taxonomy, of organisms. Taxonomic rank indicates the level of a taxon in the taxonomic hierarchy.

Territory

The area that an animal regards as its own and will defend against other animals, in particular in order to keep the food source.

Trophic dynamics

Is the system of trophic levels which describe the position that an organism occupies in a food chain - what it eats, and what eats it.

Vernacular

The language spoken in a country or area, especially when it is not the official language. It is the common name of a species or subspecies in the native language of a country or a locality.

Viviparous

A viviparous animal is an animal employing vivipary: the embryo develops inside the body of the mother, as opposed to outside in an egg (ovipary). The mother then gives live birth. The less developed form of vivipary is called ovoviviparity, which, for instance, occurs in most vipers.

Zoonosis

Or zoonose is any infectious disease that is able to be transmitted (by a vector) from other animals, both wild and domestic, to humans or from humans to animals.