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      Integrative taxonomy: a multisource approach to exploring biodiversity.

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          Abstract

          Good alpha taxonomy is central to biology. On the basis of a survey of arthropod studies that used multiple disciplines for species delimitation, we evaluated the performance of single disciplines. All included disciplines had a considerable failure rate. Rigor in species delimitation can thus be increased when several disciplines chosen for complementarity are used. We present a flexible procedure and stopping rule for integrative taxonomy that uses the information from different disciplines separately. Disagreement among disciplines over the number and demarcation of species is resolved by elucidating and invoking evolutionary explanations for disagreement. With the identification of further promising study organisms and of new questions for in-depth analysis, evolutionary biology should profit from integrative taxonomy. An important rationale is clarity in researcher bias in the decision-making process. The success of integrative taxonomy will further increase through methodological progress, taxonomic training of evolutionary biologists, and balanced resource allocation.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Annu Rev Entomol
          Annual review of entomology
          Annual Reviews
          1545-4487
          0066-4170
          2010
          : 55
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Austria. Birgit.Schlick-Steiner@uibk.ac.at
          Article
          10.1146/annurev-ento-112408-085432
          19737081
          c83072b9-3a10-438b-b9ed-e7603ed1bc57
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