Sir

Studying and making an inventory of the planet's vanishing biodiversity are apparently not of great concern to European decision-makers. Taxonomists face increasing difficulty in finding work and funding. Many European universities no longer offer taxonomy courses. It is getting harder to maintain important specimen collections and handle loans.

There has been a catastrophic reduction in cataloguing the still largely undescribed tropical biota — the West's responsibility, as there are few trained taxonomists in tropical countries. Compiling an inventory of the tens of thousands of larger fungi in tropical Africa depends on three or four European mycologists. And this at a time when the scientific community has started to realize how much fungal diversity has been underestimated in the past — barely 10% of organisms have been described.

Several French and Dutch research centres with international reputations in taxonomic mycology have been dramatically cut in size. In Britain, retiring taxonomists at the botanic gardens of Kew and Edinburgh have not been replaced, and the International Mycological Institute has ceased its independent existence. As far as the taxonomy of most of the typical larger mushrooms is concerned, there is only one professional mycologist left in the Netherlands, two in France, and none in Britain. Switzerland looks likely to have none soon if Zurich follows the example of the University of Lausanne and fails to replace departing staff. Retiring mycologists are often heads of laboratories or research units, and their retirement usually puts an end to taxonomic mycology there.

In contrast, US institutions such as the Missouri Botanical Garden are dynamic and growing fast. With a policy of permanent presence on all continents and scientists at Europe's most famous institutions, US efficiency is imposing itself on one of the richest legacies of European history.