b-fly releases at events

[Patrick Foley]

Mike Soukup wrote:

> Let me preface this by saying that I don't have enough knowledge to
> actually have a valid opinion on the subject of releases.  But, I do
> condsider myself a "die-hard realist".  And, in this case, I think there
> is a large gap between knowledge, and critical knowledge.  I'm SURE the
> survey is of GREAT value as Alaska is a massive, unique, multi-faceted
> ecosystem.  However, I can't imagine that knowing how many Painted
> Ladies (V. cardui) strayed in on any given year has any earth-shaking
> ecological or scientific value.  If you are "into" that sort of
> thing....it might be nice to know.  But, how much actual ecological
> policy is going to be dictated in Alaska based  on the numbers of a
> globally distributed, migratory species.  This, to me, makes the releses
> more of an "annoyance" than an actual problem.
>
> --
> Mike Soukup
> mikayak at ix.netcom.com
> Web Page => http://pw1.netcom.com/~mikayak
> click here to send E-mail=> mailto:mikayak at ix.netcom.com

There is considerable scientific value in knowing about stray butterflies.
As Ehrlich's group and Ilkka Hanski's group and others have shown, butterfly
populations are not always persistent locally. Metapopulations (in the broad
sense) persist only if recolonization occurs, but such recolonization events
are tricky to study quantitatively. They are often rare events. If natural
recolonizations are swamped by schoolchild releases, we have little hope of
evaluating the viability of metapopulations. If this seems subtle and
arcane, then you might read the scientific literature. The cure for the
scientific naivete shown by the pro-release propagandists is dismaying.
Instead of attacking the scientists for not having all the facts, they might
be encouraged to do some research to obtain any facts themselves.

Patrick Foley
patfoley at csus.edu