Sir

Following the House of Lords select committee report on systematic biology research1, an important report on taxonomy was published by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)2. This coincided with an article in Nature on the relentless decline in the number of posts in taxonomy in Britain3. This decline continues and applies to most of Europe and beyond4,5.[As discussed elsewhere in this issue, see Briefing, pages 115-119.]

The NERC report identified the largest problem to be alpha (inventory) taxonomy (concerned with the recognition and description of species), as it estimated that only about 10 per cent of the species on Earth are known to science. The only parts of alpha taxonomy that have significantly benefited from the British government's most welcome Darwin Initiative are those programmes encouraging the production of user-friendly identification keys. Under the Darwin Initiative a British entomologist may be funded to visit an overseas country for an advisory or training mission or an overseas person may be funded to visit Britain for training6. However, a British entomologist will not be funded to carry out alpha taxonomy research on exotic species.

The British government's funding of the UK Systematics Forum has done much to publicize the plight of taxonomy. So far not a single new post in alpha taxonomy has resulted from the forum's otherwise admirable efforts. Indeed it is now clear that alpha taxonomy will only return to UK institutions of higher education if ring-fenced money is allocated for the purpose7. The only practical suggestion that has so far been proposed to achieve this is the establishment of an Endowment Fund for Alpha Taxonomy1. This suggestion was followed by the proposal that National Lottery money be used for the purpose. This proposal was evaded by the last government6 and the present government only responded when its failure to reply was publicized8,9.

This publicity has now prompted a letter from Whitehall saying that the government is considering a National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), funded from the lottery. This could provide a source of funds for the proposed endowment fund for taxonomy. Whether NESTA will rise to the challenge will partly depend on the scientific community being able to persuade it of the urgent necessity to revive alpha taxonomy. Up to now the scientific community has tended to eclipse its appeal for more funding for taxonomy by asking for increased funding for more glamorous fields of science.

It remains to be seen whether the present government, like the last, is unconcerned at the continuing decline of alpha taxonomy, despite political rhetoric in support of the need for biodiversity research. The fact that such research is inescapably grounded in alpha taxonomy eludes many politicians.

Will Britain's scientific community care if alpha taxonomy continues to become primarily the preserve of enthusiastic amateurs, most of whom are only interested in the species of their own country? The taxa currently requiring the greatest amount of research are precisely those for which a global perspective is essential.