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Title: Report on corrections and future considerations for Appendices II–VIII of the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants

Author
item Wiersema, John
item MAY, TOM - The Royal Botanic Garden And Domain Trust
item TURLAND, NICHOLAS - Botanischer Garten Und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem

Submitted to: Taxon
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/13/2017
Publication Date: 6/23/2017
Citation: Wiersema, J.H., May, T.W., Turland, N.J. 2017. Report on corrections and future considerations for Appendices II–VIII of the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants. Taxon. 66:772-775.

Interpretive Summary: To ensure that the scientific names of algae, fungi, and plants remain stable, a set of international rules has been developed about how the names should be applied. This is especially important for international exchange of information about them, or their agricultural, horticultural, and forest products. Sometimes applying these rules causes unwanted changes in certain scientific names, leading to confusing communications about the organisms involved. Special provisions exist for obtaining formal nomenclature decisions that avoid these unwanted changes, or that otherwise resolve conflicts. The results of these decisions are published as appendices to the international rules. In the 2012 edition of the rules the appendices were published separately in 2015 for the first time, with a database of the entries created to produce them. The database is publicly available and can be used to publish future editions of the appendices as well, but various issues are raised in this paper that require discussion at the 2017 International Botanical Congress to determine how this should be done. The information in the appendices impacts a wide range of stakeholders using the names involved, including scientists, regulatory officials, and those concerned with trade and commerce.

Technical Abstract: For the first time, the main text and Appendices II–VIII of the International Code of Nomenclature were separately published following decisions of the Melbourne Nomenclature Section, which contributed to subsequent development of an online resource capable of producing the Appendices in real time. These developments, and others pertaining to newly generated lists of fungal names, raise issues outlined in this paper that should be discussed by the upcoming Nomenclature Section of the 2017 International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China. An accounting of all corrections and additions to the online version (based on the hardcopy version) of Melbourne Appendices II–VIII is also appended.