Re: Island Studies
Ellen Paul (epaul@dclink.com)
Wed, 20 Jan 1999 15:03:31 -0500
Sorry I can't reply privately, but no address or name was given. I'm
not sure if this measure was meant to rebuke something that I wrote, but
it seems as though the writer thinks that I said it wasn't
important/justified to conduct surveys and censuses and atlassing on
islands or elsewhere.
I agree (AGAIN) that distribution information is important. This is
true on islands as it is everywhere (there are, in effect, "habitat
islands" on continents as a result of human alteration of the planet, so
island biogeography is becoming increasingly important everywhere). So
(AGAIN) I never said that we should not: count, survey, census, atlas.
In fact, I said we should do so. I also never said (AGAIN) that we
shouldn't bird for our own pleasure. We should. It has lots of
benefits for us as individuals and for conservation.
What I said is that it isn't necessary to have everyone travel to
(island/county/state X) to see everything that has been seen there
simply because it hasn't been seen in that particular place before, even
though it is common in the region generally. And even if it really is
something rare, we should still give some thought to the consequences of
our decision to go see the bird.
I NEVER questioned the value of the original observation by Stasz and
Iliff. What I questioned was the relative value v. the relative costs
of additional sightings by people who would travel to Smith Island to
see this bird.
Ellen Paul
epaul@dclink.com
mdosprey@ARI.Net wrote:
>
> Since I spent 12 years of my career doing ecological research on
> islands, I would like to pint out benefits of observations made
> on Smith Island. One of the central questions of conservation
> is: "how many species can a given area support?" By compiling
> records of birds breeding and/or visiting Smith Island, data
> helping answer that question can be compiled. This, in turn, will
> help us make better decisions about the acquisition of protected
> areas, not just islands but also unique ecosystems of various
> sizes. If anyone is interested in the fundamental concepts, I
> recommend MacArthur & Wilson (1967) "The Theory of Island Biogeography"
> Princeton University Press.