[NHCOLL-L:4892] RE: open for comment

[CAHawks at aol.com]

Well said James!  
 
Cathy
 
 
In a message dated 7/21/2010 7:25:46 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
Audrey_Barnhart at nps.gov writes:

AMEN!  Besides, how many biologists do you know who did not enter  the field
of biology without an appreciation for the tangible, living  organisms?
Don't lose sight of the forest for the names of the  trees.

Audrey
Audrey L. Barnhart
Curator
Fort Union Trading  Post NHS
15550 Hwy 1804
Williston, ND   58801
(701)-572-9083



"Bryant, James"     
<JBRYANT at riversid                  
eca.gov>                    To 
Sent by:               malcolm McCallum               
owner-nhcoll-l at li          <malcolm.mccallum at herpconbio.org>   
sts.yale.edu            cc 
"nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu"           
<nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu>            
07/20/2010 12:38    Subject 
PM             [NHCOLL-L:4884] RE: open for   
comment                 

Please  respond to                    
JBRYANT at riverside                  
ca.gov                






With respect to the biological species concept, Malcolm, I  entirely concur.
Systematic biology is, ultimately, a “tool kit” for use in  examining the
life histories and biogeography of the living world. It  surprises me how
often the importance of the biospecies principle gets lost  in discussions
of systematics, both classical and genetic. I agree with E.  O. Wilson when
he says that solutions to problems like climate change and  energy
conservation can all be viewed more clearly through issues related  to
biodiversity, but we have to be sure what diversity we’re talking about,  a
great deal of it needing to be protected and conserved before we even  have
the luxury of worrying how to classify it.



James M.  Bryant


Curator of Natural History


Museum Department,  City of Riverside


3580 Mission Inn Avenue


Riverside, CA  92501


(951) 826-5273


(951) 369-4970  FAX


jbryant at riversideca.gov

From:  malcolm.mccallum.tamut at gmail.com
[mailto:malcolm.mccallum.tamut at gmail.com]  On Behalf Of malcolm McCallum
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 6:34 AM
To:  Bryant, James
Cc: nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [NHCOLL-L:4875]  open for comment

This will certainly be a useful publication if they  meet the ICZN
guidelines.  I know the ICZN used to require hard copies  be printed for the
description of new species to be valid, but I think they  recently changed
this.  Zootaxa has been running an online journal for  years and it is
currently (or last I heard) the largest journal in  systematics.

The thing that bothers me is that just naming a species  based on its
phylogeny is only a first step.  You cannot conserve a  species any more
than you can digest a book's plot by simply knowing its  name and position
in the organizational scheme.  There is so much more  to know.  If the life
histories of these organisms goes unstudied,  then having a name does little
other than indicates about as much as that  friend of yours who has
collected tons of books and never read a one.   There is so much more to the
biology of an organism than its position in  the systematic scheme.

malcolm McCallum
On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at  12:28 PM, Bryant, James <JBRYANT at riversideca.gov>
wrote:
So the  NMNH in Washington is touting the launching of two new on-line
journals,  Zookeys (perhaps should be Zoökeys?) and Phytokeys  (see
http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/smithsonian-scientists-address-world-biodive
rsity-crisis-innovative-online-publications
).  Looks like the idea is to get taxonomic revisions and updates into
“print”  as rapidly as possible. The editors claim this will not only serve
the  profession but help preserve biodiversity by “providing the public  
with
free access to this vital information”. Any thoughts on the merits of  this
approach?



James M. Bryant


Curator of Natural  History


Museum Department, City of Riverside


3580  Mission Inn Avenue


Riverside, CA 92501


(951)  826-5273


(951) 369-4970  FAX


jbryant at riversideca.gov




--
Malcolm L.  McCallum
Managing Editor,
Herpetological Conservation and  Biology

1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea"  W.S.  Gilbert
1990's:  Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat  loss,
and  pollution.
2000:  Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and  pollution reduction
MAY help restore  populations.
2022: Soylent Green is People!

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