Deep-sea taxonomy: this was the theme of a workshop in which 27 scientists from 12 countries discussed the future direction of their field of specialization, including Melissa Käß, scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Among other things, researchers are calling for greater digitization, greatly improved financial resources for taxonomic projects and an increase in jobs in this area.
According to the latest report by the World Biodiversity Council IPBES, a quarter of all species described are threatened with extinction by human factors. The deep-sea is the largest habitat on earth and hosts one of the most biodiverse ecosystems - but most deep-sea species are not yet known to science.
Therefore, the international researchers met at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt and discussed the future direction of deep-sea taxonomy. The participants of the workshop financed by the Datz Foundation agree: the researchers of the deep-sea taxonomy with their discoveries and descriptions of unknown species provide the necessary basic knowledge for the conservation of biodiversity. The scientists therefore call for increased collaboration and standardization of freely accessible online databases, as well as greatly improved financial resources for taxonomic projects and job growth in taxonomy.