ABSTRACT
Introduction ..............................................................................................................64 The Challenge of Taxonomic Resolution in a Complex Biodiversity Analysis .......64 The Relationship of Linnaean Names and Evolving Taxonomic Perspectives........65 Introducing Taxonomic Concepts ............................................................................ 67 An Emerging Language for Concept Relationships ................................................ 67 Long-Term Taxonomic Resolution Using the Concept Approach ...........................69 The Taxonomic Concept Approach Put in Practice ................................................. 70 What Concept Relationships Say about the Precision and Reliability of
Linnaean Names ........................................................................................... 72 Name/Concept Disjunction in Five Higher Level Classifications of Weevils ......... 75 Authoritative Taxonomic Databases-A Prime Application for the Concept
Approach ....................................................................................................... 79 Schemas and Tools in Support of Concept Taxonomy ............................................ 81 Conclusions-Promise and Practical Challenges for the Concept Approach ........... 81 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. 83 Notes ....................................................................................................................... 83 References ................................................................................................................84
The current system of nomenclature works well enough for many users and purposes. Linnaean names are both responsive to certain changes in taxonomic perspective and fairly stable. The former is necessary so that taxonomists can express what they learn about nature’s entities and their relationships. The latter helps users such as ecologists understand each other’s results-even if they are separated in space and time. Linnaean names have successfully played the role of a working compromise for 250 years.
