Speaker
Description
Taxonomic description patterns illustrate how the rate of new descriptions within taxonomic groups changes over time. This study combines description dates, phylogenetic information, and author numbers for all eukaryotic life on Earth from LifeGate, alongside occurrences from GBIF, public interest data from the Biodiversity in Literature project, and habitat preferences and body size data from Wikipedia. We fitted curves to the description patterns and estimated maximum description pace, the time to reach 10% of current diversity, expected total diversity, and variance between the empirical and fitted data. We created a structural equation model linking these variables, revealing strong support for the influence of body size and public interest, mediated by the number of authors, and to a lesser extent, other variables. Our results provide evidence for the effects of traits, distribution, and public interest on description patterns across all major lineages of eukaryotic life on Earth.
| Status Group | Postdoctoral Researcher |
|---|---|
| Poster Presentation Option | Yes, I’m willing to present as a poster. |
