Help for the world's ...

[Bruce Walsh]

Melanie Leavitt writes:  "Publish the facts
that support your theory.  But do not resort to
what at present appears to be shameful,
unfounded, and desperate ad hominem attacks"

I fully agree with this thought --- ON BOTH SIDES!   
Many of the statements about conservation biology (by folks on both sides of the issues) I read on leps-l are
quite unfounded, and one should not at all feel bad about being asked by the group to
provide supporting documentation.  Again, this is the nature of science.  
For example, I think that Paul's comments are a little off base, being more on the politics rather than the science.  On the science side,  my concern is whether the Palos Verde Blue is a distinct enough population to warrant protection.  The rumor I had heard for years was that it was named more to protect a population than
because it was really that distinct --- other populations showing more signals of
divergence would not have been named.  Obviously, this is a touchy issue, and there are no real hard and fast rules about this (although one can use population genetics theory to suggest some guidelines --- for example, populations whose within-population coalescent times are shorter than the between-population times are at least somewhat genetically distinct).

Peace

Bruce

PS  "The reason that attacks are so personal in academics is because the stakes are
so small"  -- Henry Kissinger
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