Memorandum submitted by Mrs Patricia Lorber
"If you do not know the names of things,
the knowledge of them is lost too" Linnaeus, Philosophia
Botanica, (1751)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
My job is that of Biological Records Officer
of the Norfolk Local Records Centre, housed in the Environment
& Waste Section of the Department of Planning & Transportation
of the Norfolk County Council. I am making this submission in
my individual capacity.
My understanding is that for many years research
in taxonomy in the United Kingdom has been poorly funded and its
teaching omitted from most undergraduate biological science courses,
but this analysis is best left to the academic submissions you
will doubtless receive. I want to focus on the practical work
of the Norfolk Local Records Centre.
The Centre takes its responsibilities in terms
of biodiversity, the Natural Environmental and Rural Communities
Bill and other planning legislation very seriously when, as happens
almost daily, it is consulted for information on environmental
surveys for planning and conservation purposes. The Centre holds
nearly a million biological records, the earliest going back to
1605—a Peregrine Falcon at Hunstanton. For the accuracy
of our records and the knowledge they embody we depend very heavily
on a circle of dedicated naturalists—the County Recorders,
each one an expert on a particular group. Only a few have had
formal taxonomic training, but have learnt from others and painstakingly
trained themselves.
I have asked four of our recorders to give me
examples within their specialisms to indicate how, without reliable
and expert knowledge, our records would be meaningless because
they could refer to a completely different species.
I am sure that the examples cited below, or
others very similar, are relevant to all Records Centres in all
the counties in the United Kingdom. I hope that my examples will
offer an indication of the taxonomic difficulties encountered
in a highly specialised branch of Local Government, and thank
Drs. Roy Baker, A.R. Leech P. Lambley and Mr Chris Jones for highlighting
demonstrative examples of their work.
EXAMPLES
Mollusca:
Oxyloma sarsi (Esmarck). Slender amber
snail. RDB2.
Found in less than ten sites in the U.K. Can
only reliably be separated from Oxyloma pfeifferi (Rossmässler)—Pfeiffer's
amber snail—by dissection of the penis.
Segmentina nitida (Müller) Shiny
ram's-horn snail.
Confined to a few sites in Norfolk/Suffolk,
Kent, Sussex and Somserset levels. While it is unnecessary to
dissect to separate it from Hippeutis complanatus (L.),
the Flat Rams-horn snail—it is always wise to examine the
shell form microscopically, especially with young specimens. A
number of Norfolk records in the 1990s are unreliable because
they have been recorded by observers with insufficient experience.
Lepidoptera:
The Grey Dagger, Acronicta psi, is included
on the new BAP List. This can easily be confused with the Dark
Dagger (A. tridens) which does not appear on the list.
The only accurate way of differentiating between the two is through
microscopic examination of the genitalia.
Leeches
One of the best examples of lack of taxonomic
expertise causing a potentially wide problem, is the discovery
that at least some of the medicinal leeches used in research are
not Hirudo medicinalis but Hirudo verbana, which
has implications for patients and conservation. Decades of medical
research and hundreds of academic papers have been called into
question after the discovery that scientists may have been studying
the wrong blood-sucking leech. At least 115 chemical compounds
have been developed from what researches thought was the medicinal
leech, with many being used in drugs in the pharmaceutical industry.
Genetic analysis has now shown that the leech that led to the
discoveries may have been the species Hirudo verbana. The
findings could prove disastrous to scientists and pharmaceutical
companies because it suggests that their researches, new drugs
and patients were based on the false premise that the medicinal
leech was the species studied. It could be equally devastating
for the leeches themselves, which as H. medicinalis has
legal protection, but as H. verbana have no defence against
being collected from the wild by the hundreds of thousands.
Fungi:
Two examples of economic importance are given:
Armillaria mellea. Common Honey fungus.
There are at least four British species in this group. Extensive
research is needed to establish the species criteria and their
ecology.
Ganoderma applanatum/Ganoderma australe.
The former has spores which are 6.508.5µm long while the
latter has much longer spores—8-13µm).
For a forester, it becomes very important to
distinguish between species that vary greatly in their pathogenicity.
A. mellea is known to kill trees, especially oaks that
have been weakened by drought or other pathogens. A. osloyae
is known as a violent pathogen of conifers. On the other hand
A. gallica is usually an innocuous saprophyte, living on
organic matter in the soil. A forester finding an Armillaria
fruiting in the woods would need to be able to tell whether or
not there is a potential problem with Armillaria root disease
so that mitigative procedures could be taken if necessary.
Cantharellus friesii. Orange Chanterelle
(a Biodiversity Action Plan [B.A.P] species) has significantly
longer spores (8.5-12µm) than the widespread Cantharellus
cibarius with spores 7.5-9µm.
Lichens
Enterographa sorediata (B.A.P. sp.) is
hard to distinguish from two much more common species E. crassa
and Schismatomma decolorans. The Churchyard Lecanactis
L. hemisphaerica (BAP) is now known to be a form of another
rare species L. grumulosa and not a new species, but it
required taxonomic work. Caloplaca luteoalba is also difficult
to separate from some other species, and most of the BAP species
in Norfolk were found only when there was a botanical taxonomist
employed in the museum service.
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