CONSTRUCTING CHECK-LISTS AND AVIFAUNA-WIDE REVIEWS: MEXICAN BIRD TAXONOMY REVISITED

摘要

Summarizing taxonomic and distributional information of regional avifaunas has been an important task of the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) from early in its history up to the present day (AOU 1998). The North American Check-list is updated by yearly supplements (e.g., Banks et al. 2008), and taxonomic changes are incorporated on the basis of a self-described “conservative and cautious” system of consensus among committee members regarding recently published proposals of changes (AOU 1998). The newer South American Check-list follows similar procedures (Remsen et al. 2008). Because many communities depend on these regional taxonomies as baseline summaries for diverse applications (e.g., in conservation, biodiversity studies, and systematic studies), consideration of the system employed and its implications is paramount, particularly given the statement that the decisions are made following a “time-honored tradition,” which—as we will argue—may not constitute the optimal strategy for 21st-century taxonomy. An alternative approach is that of regional “sweeps” and broad taxonomic reviews (e.g., Christidis and Boles 2008). This approach may, in the end, base decisions on lesscomplete information for establishing species limits, but it has the advantage of producing an internally consistent list.