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Joining science and policy in capacity development for monitoring progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in the global South
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In view of better linking conservation and sustainable development, it is imperative to optimize the transfer of biodiversity-related knowledge and technology from resource-rich countries to developing countries. All countries signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity are expected to report on their progress towards achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. However, weak data coverage and the technicality or even unavailability of indicators present major barriers to the monitoring of biodiversity as well as the development of adequate biodiversity policies and management plans in many countries of the global South, hence increasing the North-South knowledge and capacity gap. Capacity development in these countries may hence substantially enrich global biodiversity monitoring and policy. In this effort, ensuring that monitoring programs are realistic and sufficiently embedded in policy remains a challenge. To contribute to the mainstreaming of biodiversity into development cooperation, we developed a capacity development concept that links scientific data to policy development. To guarantee shared ownership, academic institutes and organisations or authorities with responsibilities in biodiversity policy were invited to jointly submit competitive “Monitoring, Reporting and Verification” (MRV) project applications. It appeared that especially ground truthing, economic valuation of biodiversity,and the application of modern technologies in biodiversity monitoring were missing capacities in the global South. Efforts are also required to increase the understanding and use of indicators to avoid them remaining a theoretical concept. As is observed with MRV in the carbon context, increased involvement of local communities is recommended in the global MRV framework, including techniques such as community-based Mapping, Measuring and Monitoring.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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Utilitarian framings of biodiversity shape environmental impact assessment in development cooperation
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Biodiversity is under threat from anthropogenic pressures, in particular in biodiversity-rich developing countries. Development cooperation actors, who traditionally focus on the improvement of socio-economic conditions in the South, are increasingly acknowledging the linkages between poverty and biodiversity, e.g. by referring to the ecosystem services framework. However, there are many different framings which stress the need for biodiversity integration and which influence how biodiversity and development are and/or should be linked. Moreover, there is a gap between the lip service paid to biodiversity integration and the reality of development cooperation interventions. This study analyses how biodiversity framings are reflected in environmental impact assessment (EIA) practice, and how these framings influence EIA and decision-making. The findings, based on an in-depth qualitative analysis of World Bank EIAs undertaken in West Africa, indicate the incoherent quality but also the dominance of the‘utilitarian’ and‘corrective’ framings, which respectively stress human use of nature and mitigation of negative unintended development impacts. Identifying and highlighting these discursive trends leads to increased awareness of the importance of biodiversity among all development actors in North and South. However, some framings may lead to an overly narrow human-centred approach which downplays the intrinsic value of biodiversity. This study proposes recommendations for an improved integration of biodiversity in development cooperation, including the need for more systematic baseline studies in EIAs.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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Taxonomy of the heavily exploited Indo-Pacific sandfish complex (Echinodermata: Holothuriidae)
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Two commercially valuable holothurians, the sandfish and golden sandfish, vary in colour and have a confused taxonomy, lending uncertainty to species identifications. A recent molecular study showed that the putative variety Holothuria (Metriatyla) scabra var. versicolor Conand, 1986 (‘golden sandfish’) is a distinct species from, but could hybridize with, H. (Metriatyla) scabra Jaeger, 1833 (’sandfish’). Examination of the skeletal elements and external morphology of these species corroborates these findings. The identity of H. (M.) scabra is unambiguously defined through the erection and description of a neotype, and several synonyms have been critically re-examined. The nomenclaturally rejected taxon H. (Metriatyla) timama Lesson, 1830 and H. (M.) scabra var. versicolor (a nomen nudum) are herein recognized as conspecific and are allocated to a new species, Holothuria lessoni sp. nov., for which type specimens are described. The holotype and only known specimen of H. aculeata Semper, 1867, has been found and is redescribed. It is considered to be a valid species. Taxonomic clarification of this heavily exploited species complex should aid its conservation and permit species-specific management of their fisheries.
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One Year of Taxonomic Capacity Building by the Belgian Focal Point to the GTI
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see pdf
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New Holothuria species from Australia (Echinodermata: Holothuriidae), with comments on the origin of deep and cool holothuriids.
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Two aspidochirotid species, new to science, from the continental slope of southern Australia are described: Holothuria (Panningothuria) austrinabassa O’Loughlin sp. nov. and Holothuria (Halodeima) nigralutea O’Loughlin sp. nov. The first represents the southernmost documented holothuriid, and is the sister species of the northernmost holothuriid species Holothuria (Panningothuria) forskali Delle Chiaje. The second is a very recent offshoot of the wide-ranging Indo- west Pacific Holothuria (Halodeima) edulis Lesson. Morphological and molecular genetic differences between these species pairs are detailed. Holothuria (Halodeima) signata Ludwig is raised out of synonymy with H. edulis.A lectotype for Holothuria (Halodeima) signata Ludwig is designated, The status of the subgenera Panningothuria Rowe and Halodeima Pearson is discussed. The occurrence of multiple madreporites in Halodeima is discussed.
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Using Sea cucumbers to illustrate the basics of zoological nomenclature
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First record of the Apodid Sea Cucumber Anapta gracilis Semper, 1868 (Holothuroidea: Synaptidae) in the Gulf of Thailand.
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see pdf
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no Name, No Game
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No abstract
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Algal Taxonomy: a road to nowhere?
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The widespread view of taxonomy as an essentially retrogressive and outmoded science unable to cope with the current biodiversity crisis stimulated us to analyze the current status of cataloguing global algal diversity. Contrary to this largely pessimistic belief, species description rates of algae through time and trends in the number of active taxonomists, as revealed by the web resource AlgaeBase, show a much more positive picture. More species than ever before are being described by a large community of algal taxonomists. The lack of any decline in the rate at which new species and genera are described, however, is indicative of the large proportion of undiscovered diversity and bears heavily on any prediction of global algal species diversity and the time needed to catalogue it. The saturation of accumulation curves of higher taxa (family, order, and classes) on the other hand suggest that at these taxonomic levels most diversity has been discovered. This reasonably positive picture does not imply that algal taxonomy does not face serious challenges in the near future. The observed levels of cryptic diversity in algae, combined with the shift in methods used to characterize them, have resulted in a rampant uncertainty about the status of many older species. As a consequence, there is a tendency in phycology to move gradually away from traditional names to a more informal system whereby clade-, specimen- or strain-based identifiers are used to communicate biological information. Whether these informal names for species-level clades represent a temporary situation stimulated by the lag between species discovery and formal description, or an incipient alternative or parallel taxonomy, will be largely determined by how well we manage to integrate historical collections into modern taxonomic research. Additionally, there is a pressing need for a consensus about the organizational framework to manage the information about algal species names. An eventual strategy should preferably come out of an international working group that includes the various databases as well as the various phycological societies. In this strategy, phycologists should link up to major international initiatives that are currently being developed, such as the compulsory registration of taxonomic and nomenclatural acts and the introduction of Life Science Identifiers.
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The rediscovery of a collection of echinoderms, including two holotypes, in the Durban Natural Science Museum, South Africa.
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This paper reports on an orphaned collection of echinoderms housed at the Durban Natural Science Museum, South Africa. The collection includes holotypes of the South African endemic ophiuroid Asteroschema capensis Mortensen, 1925 [=Asteromorpha capensis (Mortensen, 1925)] according to Okanishi et al. (2013) and the South African endemic asteroid Anthenoides marleyi Mortensen, 1925. The holotype of the asteroid Hacelia superba var. capensis Mortensen, 1925 has not been found and is considered lost, whilst the holotype of Anthosticte pacei Mortensen, 1925 [=Tethyaster pacei (Mortensen, 1925)] is reported to be housed in the Zoological Museum Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection includes both wet and dry specimens of extant Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea and Holothuroidea with Crinoidea being absent. Holothuroidea were excluded from examinations due to lack of locality data. In addition, Plococidaris verticillata (de Lamarck, 1816) is a new distribution record for South Africa. This paper gives new accession numbers of the specimens and the only photographic record of this collection.
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