Welcome to the German GTI National Focal Point website

Why does the world need taxonomy?
Taxonomy is the area of biological research that deals with the naming (nomenclature), identification and classification of organisms. For the task of systematically organizing nature taxonomists use morphological traits (e.g. anatomy, flower composition). They also employ methods of chemistry, biochemistry and genetics in order to clarify relations between different organisms. Depending on area of expertise taxonomists conduct their work in various institutions. ... Read more

The activities of the National Focal Point of GTI are supported by Network-Forum for Biodiversity Research Germany.

Case studies

Giant Squid Architeuthis Is Truly One Of A Kind

22. April 2013 - 14:26 — j.mitchell

Despite its charismatic appeal to both scientists and the general public, remarkably little is known about the giant squid Architeuthis, one of the largest of the invertebrates.

Distribution mechanisms of coral larvae support designation of marine conservation areas

9. November 2011 - 17:16 — l.chamsai

Photo: Andreas Hallerbach / Flickr

Many marine organisms have mobile larvae and only at later life stages establish sessile colonies. Although several reseach projects on this topic exist, there is not much known about distribution mechanisms, which reflects there complexity and dependency on multiple factors such as age, survival rates und swimming speed of larvae but also on environmental conditions

GTI stands for Global Taxonomy Initiative, which was established in 1998 as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in order to strengthen taxonomic knowldege and resources. The GTI is a cross-cutting issue of the CBD. This indicates the relevance of GTI for other thematic programme contents and is also conveyed by the content of its work programme. The GTI generally consists of National Focal Points (NFP), which either already exist or still needs to be nominated. In terms of contents the GTI consits of a set of activities and objectives agreed on by the CBD member states. Further information can be obtained from the GTI-factsheet.

News

Don't Be Fooled: Flowers Mislead Traditional Taxonomy

Posted on: 8. May 2013

Floral morphologies may be less reliable than other traits in determining the relationships of papilionoid species and genera.

For hundreds of years, plant taxonomists have worked to...

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Call For Papers - European Journal of Taxonomy

Posted on: 7. May 2013

EJT is an international, fully electronic, Open Acces journal for descriptive taxonomy, in zoology, entomology, botany and palaeontology. Publishing in EJT is free (there are no...

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