Last update - 00:00 03/02/2008
Israeli taxonomists: An endangered species
By Tamara Traubmann
A few years ago, a cave was discovered in the course of mining work near Ramle, revealing a world that had been sealed off for millions of years. Scientists found previously unknown animal species inside, but identifying and typing them posed a problem: Hardly any taxonomists remain in Israel.
To get the job done, retired taxonomists were recruited. They identified some of the species, "and the rest we sent overseas," said Dov Por, a retired zoology professor from Hebrew University.
"At least we still knew to which genera the species belonged," he added. "Today, there are fewer people who would even know that."
According to a study commissioned last year by the National Academy of Sciences, taxonomy in Israel "is a field in danger of extinction." Taxonomy, along with zoology and botany, once occupied pride of place in scientific study, but fell from greatness.
These sciences have not become redundant: Of an estimated 10-30 million animal and plant species on our planet, only some 1.5 million have been identified, and very little is known about many of these. But "naturalists" - scientists who collect and study plants and animals, sometimes on lengthy field expeditions - have been marginalized in an age of molecular biology and biotechnology. The naturalists' holistic approach, which looks at an entire animal or organ and at the connections between animals and their environment, is being replaced by a focus on small segments of the whole, such as genes, proteins and other molecules. Botany departments are now "plant sciences departments," and in place of classic botanists are scientists who frequently are not interested in plants themselves, but rather in plants as a research tool in genetics and biochemistry.
"The field is perceived, unjustly, as archaic science, as old-fashioned romance," said Prof. Micha Ilan, chair of the Tel Aviv University zoology department.
In other countries, he said, these fields are experiencing a renaissance, among other reasons thanks to recognition of their importance to preserving biodiversity. But "in Israel, we are still dithering."
Por described the change that has taken root: "Our students used to do more field courses. They would dive to research algae and animals in the Mediterranean, go to the reptile center at Hatzeva to do a course on reptiles, travel to Lakes Kinneret and Hula to see the freshwater fauna and flora. Now our students no longer go out in the field; they look through microscopes. They get to see a few stuffed or preserved specimens. But it's out of context. Fieldwork hardly exists anymore in academia. There are barely any courses in zoology and botany. Our students still fill slots at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and other organizations, but it has no future. The situation is catastrophic."
The status once reserved for the naturalist has gone to molecular biology and biochemistry, the modern disciplines that set the tone and get most of the funding. Por said that as professors in the older fields retired, replacements were simply not hired.
The fields themselves are changing. "The emphasis is moving from morphology and the organism as a whole to molecular biology," said Prof. Hava Yablonka, of TAU's Cohen Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas. "Today it seems outdated and not important enough if you're not examining molecules. But it can't be outdated, because you can't research biology and evolution based only on the changes that have occurred in DNA. You also need information on higher organizational levels - the level of the organism's morphology, and its connections to the environment. Very few species on earth have been characterized and identified, so there is a great deal of work for the morphologist. It will be a disaster if this tradition disappears."
Last year, the biodiversity forum at the National Academy of Sciences gathered information about scientists working on taxonomy. They found only 22 active taxonomists, some of them non-academics who are employed in technical tasks. Many are close to retirement.
"At best," the report said, "in another three years there will be only seven taxonomists of regular academic standing in Israel."
The report warned of the imminent "collapse of taxonomic research in Israel and a severe blow to all studies relating to biodiversity and many other fields of study that rely on taxonomic knowledge."
As Prof. Tamar Dayan of the TAU zoology department explained, if taxonomy, zoology and botany disappear, "we will pay a heavy price in nature preservation, in contending with pests in agriculture, in pollination, biological pesticides and the ability to find natural substances for new medicines."
Por made another point: Because of the shortage in taxonomists, zoologists and botanists, Israel is not meeting its commitments to international treaties on biodiversity preservation to which it is a signatory.
"We have an elementary cultural duty to study and provide information about this part of the world called Israel," he said.