PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 78: Evolutionary Ecology: Genetics
Wednesday, August 10, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 516 D, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Arguments against standardization of taxonomic resolution in ecological analyses.

Lafrancois, Toben^*,1, ¹ Graduate student, Department of Philosophy, Minneapolis, MN, USA

ABSTRACT- Taxonomic resolution is considered both a pragmatic and conceptual problem in ecological science because different taxonomic levels of analysis can result in different research outcomes. When results of ecological interest are only found at higher taxonomic levels, the worry is that choosing a taxonomic resolution is equivalent to the manipulation of statistical artifacts. Intuitively, finer resolutions ought to produce the finest discrimination of ecological processes. Because species concepts are thought to be biologically meaningful, standardization of taxonomic resolution at the species level is an appealing solution. I will review recent arguments made in favor and against standardization. In light of these cases and work I have done analyzing the structure of the relationship between taxonomy and ecological analyses, I argue that species level standardization is not a stable basis for understanding ecology. First, standardization at species level is superficial because species concepts have (and arguably ought to have) different meanings in different groups. Secondly, if it is granted that species concepts in principle mean the same thing in all groups, different supra-specific concepts do not sort organisms for consistent reasons either within or between groups. This entails that higher taxonomic levels cannot be uniformly thought of as proxies for species level analysis, and so standardization fails. Finally, even granting an ideally perfect systematics, the questions ecologists ask require various ways of sorting organisms that interact differently with taxonomic resolution. Rejecting standardization complicates cross-study or cross-system comparisons and requires a more explicit role for taxonomic expertise in ecology, but ultimately I think that it offers a richer understanding of ecological processes.

Key words: taxonomic resolution, taxonomic standardization, systematics