Taxonomists are pushing for a large scale mission to find and describe all of the species on the planet. Lead by scientists at Arizona State University, the effort was launched at a recent meeting of taxonomists, informatics experts, ecologists, sociologists, and computer scientists. The meeting was organized by Quentin Wheeler, a member of the NSC Alliance Board of Directors. The group hopes to increase the number of species formally described each year to 200,000, a tenfold increase over the current rate.
Taxonomists Plan for Big Push to Describe All Species on Earth