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In botanical nomenclature, conservation is a nomenclatural procedure governed by Art. 14 of the ICBN. Its purpose is
- "to avoid disadvantageous nomenclatural changes entailed by the strict application of the rules, and especially of the principle of priority *" (Art. 14.1).
Conservation may be restricted to the spelling of a name: Euonymus (not Evonymus), Guaiacum (not Guajacum), Hieronyma (not Hyeronima or Hieronima), etc (see orthographical variant). Conservation may also concern the type of a name, thus fixing the application of that name to a taxon.
1) The procedure starts by submitting a proposal to the journal Taxon (published by the IAPT). This proposal should present the case both for and against conservation of a name. Publication notifies anybody concerned that the matter is being considered and makes it possible for those interested to write in. Publication is the start of the formal procedure: it counts as referring the matter "to the appropriate Committee for study" and Rec14A.1 comes into effect. The name in question is (somewhat) protected by this Recommendation ("... authors should follow existing usage as far as possible ...").
2) After reviewing the matter, judging the merits of the case, "the appropriate Committee" makes a decision either against ("not recommended") or in favor ("recommended"). Then the matter is passed to the General Committee.
3) After reviewing the matter, mostly from a procedural angle, the General Committee makes a decision, either against ("not recommended") or in favor ("recommended"). At this point Art 14.14 comes into effect. Art 14.14 authorizes all users to indeed use that name. If this should be relevant the name can be printed in the relevant Appendix, but only if accompanied by an asterisk to indicate that although it is printed in the physical book which carries the title International Code of Botanical Nomenclature it is not de jure part of the Code.
4) The General Committee reports to the Nomenclature Section of the International Botanical Congress, stating which names (including types and spellings) it recommends for conservation. Then, by Div.III.1, the Nomenclature Section makes a decision on which names (including types, spellings) are accepted into the Code. At this stage the de facto decision is made to modify the Code.
5) The Plenary Session of that same International Botanical Congress receives the "resolution moved by the Nomenclature Section of that Congress" and makes a de jure decision to modify the Code. By long tradition this step is ceremonial in nature only.
In the course of time there have been different standards for the majority required for a decision. However, for decades the Nomenclature Section has required a 60% majority for an inclusion in the Code, and the Committees have followed this example, in 1996 adopting a 60% majority for a decision.
Zoological nomenclature, as governed by the ICZN, has a procedure with a similar purpose.
"Conservation (botany)"