Linnaean nomenclature in the 21st Century: a report from a workshop on integrating traditional nomenclature and phylogenetic classification

The participants in the Workshop were brought together to consider how best to integrate the needs of phylogenetic classification given our current system of naming the world’s biota. The Workshop was developed as a follow-up to the 2001 Smithsonian Botanical Symposium held in Washington, D.C., the results of which were published in Taxon [volume 51(1), 2002]. The Smithsonian symposium was attended by 190 scientists from numerous countries. At that meeting issues concerning the Linnaean naming system and the needs of an emerging phylogeny-based classification were discussed. Participants in this follow-up Workshop at the Hunt Institute in Pittsburgh were selected on the basis of their response to a widely distributed announcement about the planned workshop. In addition, several individuals were specifically invited because of the particular perspective they would bring to the discussion. It is recognized that the results of the workshop have predominantly American and botanical perspectives. Although the discussion centred on the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) (Greuter & al., 2000), many of the comments are also applicable to the Zoological and Bacteriological Codes as well. This report is offered for discussion and critique with the hope that it will be useful to the community of taxonomists and biologists at large in understanding and formulating a workable system of nomenclature and classification. Attendees at the workshop included co-moderators Robert W. Kiger (Hunt Institute) and W. John Kress (U.S. National Herbarium), and participants Theodore M. Barkley (Botanical Research Institute of Texas), Richard K. Brummitt (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew),