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How phantom databases could contribute to conservation assessments

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Abstract

Reliable data are needed to produce representative and useful conservation assessments for species. To this end, taxonomists and their unpublished, archived and unused databases—here called phantom databases—have great relevance for assessing the conservation status of species. Taxonomist’s phantom databases are usually the result of a review work, and, if made available, they could be used to assess a species conservation status with greater accuracy, allowing for more effective conservation planning. Here we characterise these databases, provide examples of their relevance and recommend solutions to make these phantom databases available for conservation use. Databases of taxonomic and geographic information need not be phantom and could be made openly accessible to encourage their use in conservation activities.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Cleusa Vogel Ely, Megan Barstow, Yvette Harvey-Brown and Malin Rivers for the critical reading of an earlier version of the manuscript; Klaas-Douwe Dijkstra, Pedro Cardoso and the other anonymous reviewers for the valuable constructive suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Avenida dos Portugueses 1966, Bacanga, São Luís, MA, 65080-805, Brazil

    Lucas C. Marinho

  2. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, UK

    Emily Beech

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  1. Lucas C. Marinho
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  2. Emily Beech
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Correspondence to Lucas C. Marinho.

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Communicated by: Paula Roig Boixeda

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Marinho, L.C., Beech, E. How phantom databases could contribute to conservation assessments. Sci Nat 107, 21 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-020-01679-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-020-01679-w

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