My apologies to Karen: it has been pointed out to me that "predate" is a proper synonym for "to prey upon" according to the Oxford English Dictionary (my Webster New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition does not recognize this usage).
It was also pointed out to me that there was considerable discussion about this on Ecolog-L in 2004 followed by a 2006 article in the Bulletin of the ESA. This article reported that the OED accepted this usage in 1974, that "depredate" is the oldest synonym and that published papers in our field used all three verbs. For the papers surveyed, "predate" was used in 7 articles, "depredate" in 10 articles and "prey upon" in 18 articles. Now, it has been pointed out to me that there are other technical misusages or overusages, such as: "data is" instead of "data are" "impact" instead of "effect" or "affect" "orientate" instead of "orient" "preventative" instead of "preventive" "significant" used in a non-statistical sense All of these can be found in my dictionary, so should I be using any and all of them? What would ecology journal editors do with a sentence such as this -- ? "The incomplete data shows a significant impact on loon recruitment orientated toward eagle predating on eggs, thusly suggesting preventative action." Ain't English wonderful? Warren Aney Senior Wildlife Ecologist -----Original Message----- From: Warren W. Aney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, 09 July, 2007 12:44 To: Karen Willard; [email protected] Subject: RE: Eagle predation Gee, I didn't know bald eagles could read a calendar, much less "predate" something. (I know, many of us use "predate" instead of "prey upon" but that doen'st make it right.) Warren Aney Senior Wildlife Ecologist -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Karen Willard Sent: Monday, 09 July, 2007 10:17 To: [email protected] Subject: Eagle predation Hi, I am trying to find characteristics of egg remains that have been predated by Bald Eagles. Does anyone know of a source where this has been documented or has anyone observed this happening? More specifically Common Loon (Gavia immer) eggs. thanks, Karen Willard --------------------------------- Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more.
