Bend the Facts

Stanley A. Gorodenski stanlep at extremezone.com
Thu Jun 14 19:15:53 EDT 2001


> 
> But you didn't mention that probably most and maybe all these favorite localties
> were created by bulldozers, plows and saws to begin with. Kentucky was
> mostly all hardwood forest 200 years ago and plows and saws probably
> created the clearings where you found good butterflying in years' past.
> 

I do not go so far as to say this is deception.  I do feel, though, that
it does not present the correct picture.  It is true that some butterfly
sites may have been created by bulldozing.  I define bulldozing here to
be any activity that alters that natural state of a habitat.  This could
be caused by 'bulldozers', or tilling the land for agriculture.  In
centuries past, most 'bulldozing' activities resulted in human mediated
successional changes.  Instead of a hardwood forest, bulldozing changed
the composition of flora a fauna.  Today, however, because of the
rampant uncontrollable increase in human population, a lot of
'bulldozing' results in the human mediated END to successional changes. 
Case in point.  Many years ago there was a really good Sesiid (Aegeriid)
population on wild Cucurbitae between Globe and Miami, Arizona. 
'Bulldozing' resulted in the extinction of this population and the end
to any successional changes because the site is now occupied by Wall
Mart - buildings, concrete and pavement.  Thus, I feel it is a false
(not a lie) argument to claim that our concerns over bulldozing are
misled because our good butterfly collecting sites were created by
bulldozing centuries ago.

Stan

 
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