As the grand traditions of systematic biology continue to be marginalized by trendy, but less informative, molecular data, one of its greatest research resources may soon be marginalized, too
I share your worry about botanic gardens and their science departments going the more popular way of trendy university projects. One aspect of that is that those projects are usually short-term (= more easily funded); and that the long-term projects of botanic gardens, such as flora projects, fall by the wayside. I was involved in such a flora project for many years, establishing a solid taxonomy for a previously under-studied tropical area; on the way we discovered and described many new species. We also put on the map a major (>10,000 species) biodiversity listing with data on habitat, so useful for any conservation effort.
Taxonomy is old-fashioned. It is also an essential baseline for all work on wild plants - without a solid taxonomy (and its associated naming systems) all further research on wild plants rests on quicksand.
Well said. Astronomy is old fashioned, too, but is not similarly marginalized.
I share your worry about botanic gardens and their science departments going the more popular way of trendy university projects. One aspect of that is that those projects are usually short-term (= more easily funded); and that the long-term projects of botanic gardens, such as flora projects, fall by the wayside. I was involved in such a flora project for many years, establishing a solid taxonomy for a previously under-studied tropical area; on the way we discovered and described many new species. We also put on the map a major (>10,000 species) biodiversity listing with data on habitat, so useful for any conservation effort.
Taxonomy is old-fashioned. It is also an essential baseline for all work on wild plants - without a solid taxonomy (and its associated naming systems) all further research on wild plants rests on quicksand.