Extinction vs accuracy

Michael Gochfeld gochfeld at eohsi.rutgers.edu
Tue Jan 16 07:57:21 EST 2001


That's probably only because the vast majority of local (whoops) ... of
extirpations are due to anthropogenic activities.  However, there are range
extensions and range retractions, and some of these changes may be more or less
independent of human activities. But even competition from exotic species is
ultimately an anthropogenic phenomenon.
 
Extirpation does have an active connotation as Rudy indicated.  Some years ago
at a Wildlife Conference I heard a spell-binding historical lecture, recreating
wildlife vistas from written observations of the 1600s and 1700s.  One of the
side bars is that the colonists successfully eliminated the major carnivores
(bears, wolves, pumas) from the 13 colonies by deliberate persecutions.  Instead
of bounties some communities had quotas of how many carnivores an able-bodied
man had to kill each year.
 
That's extirpation with a big E.
 
Mike Gochfeld
 
rudy benavides wrote:
 
> I've only heard extirpation used in the context of a human created
> extermination or removal event.  For example, the beaver was extirpated in
> the early 1900s in the lower 48 due to excessive trapping and shooting as a
> result of the great demand for its pelt.
>
> Rudy Benavides
> Maryland
> ------------------------------------------------
>
> >From: Kenelm Philip <fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu>
> >To: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
> >Subject: RE: Extinction vs accuracy
> >Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 17:13:09 -0900 (AKST)
> >
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> >
> >
> >Out of curiosity, I looked up 'extinction' and 'extirpation' in
> >'A Dictionary of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics' by Lincoln, Boxshall,
> >and Clark, 2nd edition, 1998, Cambridge U.P.--a most useful reference.
> >
> >"extinction  1: The process of elimination, as of less fit genotypes. 2:
> >The disappearance of a species or taxon from a given habitat or biota, not
> >precluding later recolonization from elsewhere.
> >
> >extirpation  1: Surgical removal of a part; destroying totally; pulling
> >up by the roots. 2: Extermination of the population of a given species
> >from an area."
> >
> >I see little difference between 'extinction 2' and 'extirpation 2'.
> >
> >       More to the point, however, might be the following entries:
> >
> >"extinct (Ex)  In the IUCN Categories q.v. of threatened species. those
> >taxa that have not been definitely located in the wild during the past
> >50 years.
> >
> >extinct (EX)  In the proposed IUCN Criteria q.v. for threatened species,
> >a taxon is categorized as extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that
> >the last individual of that taxon has died.
> >
> >extinct in the wild (EW)  In the proposed IUCN Criteria q.v. for threatened
> >species, a taxon is categorized as extinct in the wild when it is known to
> >survive only in cultivation, in captivity, or as naturalized populations
> >outside the former range."
> >
> >                                                       Ken Philip
> >fnkwp at uaf.edu
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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