Impactos geopoliticos na descrição de novas espécies de moluscos terrestres

Abstract

Although 2.3 million species have been described worldwide, many remain unknown to science, meaning that our understanding of global biodiversity is based on only a fraction of the estimated species. This knowledge gap is not evenly distributed across the planet and can be influenced by the socioeconomic factors of countries. Here, we evaluated how taxonomic descriptions of terrestrial molluscs published over the past 20 years differed between countries in the Global North and Global South in terms of the presence of resident researchers, leadership by resident researchers, and comprehensiveness of the techniques adopted (number and type of methods, quantity of type-specimens, number of pages). We also examined whether the observed differences were related to the economic power of the countries that participated in and/or received taxonomic descriptions of new species. Our results highlighted a disparity between the Global North and Global South. While 76% of the descriptions were located in the Global South, only 37% of the new species had Global South researchers participating in the publications. Researchers from the North led 75.9% of the descriptions in their own territories, compared to only 27.1% of those residing in the Global South. The lack of reciprocity in international collaborations was evident, with 93% of collaborations from the South involving the North, but only 7% the other way around. The pattern of inequality also emerged in the accessibility of resources and tools, with species from the Global South showing lower proportions in the use of anatomical analyses, molecular biology, and the incidence of revisionary works. Descriptions conducted in the Global South also presented lower numbers of evidences and type-specimens analysed, resulting in descriptions with fewer pages. We demonstrated that most species discovered in the Global South did not include resident researchers, characterising parachute discovery practices. Moreover, the absolute number of parachute discoveries was positively related to the gross domestic product per capita of the countries. Our results indicate a strong presence of neocolonial academic practices, which do not contribute to reducing inequalities in taxonomic science. It is imperative that international collaborations consider more equitable approaches, which value building local capacity and ensure better chances for achieving international goals associated with the improvement of knowledge and conservation of global biodiversity.