Abstract
A comparison of terrestrial and marine ecosystems in terms of their basic ecosystems and biodiversity characteristics (e.g., energy flow, trophic levels, species composition and knowledge) is presented to outline specific problems involved in the inference of marine biodiversity. Although the magnitude and percentage of unknown species is in same range as in terrestrial systems, the number of systematists for marine taxa is substantially smaller, mainly because there are (with the sole exception of conchology) no associated skilled amateurs. In addition, the systematic treatment of marine species generally requires more time and more expensive technical facilities on average than the taxonomic treatment of terrestrial taxa. Efforts must be made to increase the number of systematists for marine taxa at universities and museums and to improve their education, as well as to improve the policies of scientists themselves.
Resumen
Para perfilar los problemas específicos que plantea la biodiversidad marina, se presenta una comparación de ecosistemas básicos y de las características de la biodiversidad (p. ej. flujo energético, niveles tróficos, composición de las especies y conocimiento) encontradas en ecosistemas terrestres y marinos. Aunque la magnitud y el porcentaje de especies desconocidas vienen a ser los mismos que en el sistema terrestre, el número de taxónomos para los taxa marina es mucho menor debido, sobre todo, a la falta (con la única excepción de la conquiliología) de competentes aficionados asociados. Además, el tratamiento sistemático de las especies marinas suele requerir por lo general más tiempo y un material técnico más caro que el tratamiento taxonómico de los taxa terrestre. Hay que intentar aumentar el número de taxónomos para los taxa marina en universidades y museos y enriquecer su formación, así como mejorar las políticas de los propios científicos.
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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Haszprunar, G. (2001). Marine biodiversity — Thoughts on the subjects and their investigators. In: Barthlott, W., Winiger, M., Biedinger, N. (eds) Biodiversity. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06071-1_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06071-1_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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