Dear colleagues,

Taxonomic knowledge of insular taxa is generally quite poor, and this is a major issue for conservation.

As an example, here in the Balearics, even after two centuries of natural history research, new species continue to be described. Botanists agree that many plants supposed to be conspecific with continental populations do look somewhat different -quite a few endemic plant species are recognized, yet it is clear that there are more awaiting careful comparative studies. Among reptiles, highly distinctive narrow-range endemics have traditionally been considered "subspecies". The tradition for other taxa, such as land snails and birds heavily underestimated endemism, rarely reaching even subspecific status.

As a case in point, the Balearic shearwater was just recently recognized as a distinct species (more than enough evidence was there, yet it took years to convince fellow ornithologists!). This happened just in time to start urgent conservation action.

What might be happening in places barely explored? My feeling is that studies in systematics are really a keystone for conservation in islands, yet this central building block is still far from adequate to prevent widespread extinction.

Sincerely,

Cristian R. Altaba
Laboratory of Human Systematics, University of the Balearic Islands, and Department of the Environment, Government of the Balearic Islands