La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Shifting sands: Taxonomic changes in the world of the field ornithologist
Auteurs :	Martin Collinson, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	British Birds (94(1) January, 2001)
Article en page(s) :	2-27
Résumé :	Species definitions have been extensively debated recently in the scientific and popular ornithological literature, and many taxonomic changes have been proposed. This leads to a number of questions and much confusion for ornithologists and for birdwatchers in general. This paper looks at some of the issues around which the 'species debate' centres, with particular reference to birds in the Western Palearctic. While offering no definitive answers, it aims to make the arguments accessible to a wider audience, to place in context the bewildering number of taxonomic changes currently being proposed, and to suggest reasons why this situation may have arisen, and ways in which the non-specialist may cope. The 'species question' may be broken down into two different questions, with very different answers: what is a species, and how in practice do we recognise one? After a very brief explanation of species concepts, it is concluded that the species is a real biological entity, although it is not always recognisable as such. The dynamics of bird evolution in relation to environmental change are reviewed, and it is considered that taxonomic uncertainty is inevitable. Taxonomy is fundamental to conservation, and classification of Western Palearctic birds must reflect this.

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