ID: 613 / 75

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: TOWARDS INTEGRATIVE TAXONOMY. THEORY AND PRACTICE. SESSION 1

Abstract: The term ‘integrative taxonomy’ first appeared in scientific literature in the 1960s although the idea of using all available data to inform taxonomic decisions goes back much further. Since then, and especially in recent years, ‘integrative taxonomy’ has been used as an umbrella term to refer to various approaches to analyse different sources of data to make taxonomic decisions. The actual meaning and purpose of integrative taxonomy, however, has been rarely treated as a subject in its own right. This is especially pertinent at a time when many taxonomic studies continue to analyse different types of data (morphology, DNA sequences, ecology) independently with little integration. This symposium will include both theoretical perspectives and empirical studies of integrative taxonomy in plants. Our aim is to explore the question, what is integrative taxonomy?

Speaker 1: Dr Tiina Sarkinen Permanent Biodiversity Researcher, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh EH5 3LR Edinburgh, United Kingdom. t.sarkinen@rbge.org.uk "Integrative taxonomy in megadiverse tropical plant groups: the case of Solanum"

Speaker 2: Tom Wells PhD Researcher, University of Oxford OX1 3RB Oxford "Heuristics, species, and the analysis of systematic data"

Speaker 3: TBC

Topics (Up to three): Systematics and taxonomy

Topic 2: Phylogenetics and phylogenomics

Topic 3: Floristics

Justification: This symposium presents a multidisciplinary approach and bridges several disciplines, including but not only Systematics and taxonomy, Phylogenetics, Ecology, Floristics, and Conservation biology. We believe it will be of interest to many IBC attendees. We aim to organise a symposium that includes a diversity of speakers, both in terms of career stage, gender diversity, and geography. The three potential speakers suggested represent different career stages and will be complemented with three speakers selected from registered participants. We aim for a final panel including diverse career stages and gender balance and, if possible, researchers from different institutions in different countries.