South Africa: SA Scientists Concerned As Marine Taxonomists Become an Increasingly Endangered Species

analysis

South Africa hosts an abundance of marine species, but there are not enough taxonomists to support the effective management and protection of our rich marine biodiversity.

When marine taxonomists Dr Jannes Landschoff and Emeritus Professor Charles Griffiths first set the target of scientifically documenting the life in False Bay's kelp forests, they suspected they were being overly ambitious.

Griffiths says, "We thought, is it even possible to find 1,001 species in the Great African Sea Forest? But we quickly realised that it was a very easy target" -- a testament to the immense diversity in South Africa's oceans.

But while South Africa hosts an abundance of marine species, there are not enough taxonomists to support the effective management and protection of our rich marine biodiversity.

Taxonomists -- biologists that name and categorise species -- are at the core of the biodiversity information crucial for marine spatial planning, fisheries management and the creation of marine protected areas. However, their numbers are dwindling, scientists warn.

South African marine taxonomic knowledge is outdated. An additional complication: many species have been inaccurately identified as European -- a relic of past colonial taxonomists labelling organisms with the name of the closest European equivalent.

Landschoff, the 1001 Seaforest Species project leader and a marine biologist at the Sea Change Project, says this has not been rectified because "there aren't...

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