What about a springtail? Does anyone really value a springtail? what is its financial value?
And yet it is a primary component of the soil ecosystem. How would it look if this was a study on the migration of springtails? It would get a lot of laughs, but if they went extinct no one would be laughing. This kind of research is not about the money. If it was, the military spending would be under control. Lets face it, the cost of an average fighter jet, or even the fuel used to fly it dwarfs any single conservation action. And yet it plays a much smaller security role than the springtail. What kind of security problem would the US have if the soil ecosystem crashed? WHere would we get food? How would we grow it? Would their be mass famine? Asking what the value of an organism is or if the money spent on research on it is well spent is not the right question to be asking. Ridiculing such things is short-sighted and small-minded. Why is it we place less faith in scientists that we do in the average mechanic? Maybe because the average person has a better understanding of a car than the earth (or science)? People who really want to KNOW the answers to why is X important need to enroll in structured education, subscribe to the appropriate magazines/journals, and watch the appropriate programs. However, unless a structured formal or informal education is actively pursued, these kinds of questions will remain unanswered due to the breadth. They are akin to asking "why is the sky blue," "why do I exist," but not as extreme as "is there a god." In otherwords, it takes more than a simple answer to explain complex ecological/scientific issues. Malcolm On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 7:34 AM, Rob Baldwin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I agree. What's frivolous about the monarch research? Aside from being a > disease model, it's a species that many, many people value greatly. The fact > that you can't eat monarchs, or (at this point) use them for biomedical > research is not the point. People simply like them. It's no different to > spend money on their conservation than it is to spend money on repairing the > Lincoln Memorial, keeping up the works in the National Gallery of Art, or > repairing the trails at the Grand Canyon. So far, the public is not > completely utilitarian about spending money. Research is needed to know how > most effectively to spend the money on conservation. If disesase is an > important variable, it needs to be studied. > > - Rob Baldwin, South Carolina > On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 11:31 PM, David M. Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> What's frivolous about basic research like this? >> >> Dave >> >> >> Paul Cherubini wrote: >> >>> Jason L Kindall wrote: >>> >>> Viewed alone, it might be pretty hard to justify research on fruit flies >>>> to the average Joe (plumber >>>> or six-pack). Connect it with autism or human health and then it becomes >>>> more palatable to the public. >>>> >>> >>> Perhaps Sarah Palin and the average Joe's are refering >>> to the big research grants that are awarded for seemingly >>> frivolous projects like the one below dealing with the health of an >>> economically unimportant, but charasmatic insect: >>> http://tinyurl.com/2d6r9f >>> $679,492 Grant to assist professor's study of butterflies >>> >>> Altizer received the National Science Foundation Faculty >>> Early Development Career award to study migration and >>> infectious disease patterns in Monarch butterflies. >>> >>> Altizer hopes her research will help with conservation. She wants to know >>> how migration keeps Monarchs healthy. >>> "People tend to love Monarchs to death," Altizer said. Keeping humans from >>> disrupting the butterflies' migration will help keep them healthy. >>> >>> Paul Cherubini >>> El Dorado, Calif. >>> >> >> -- >> ------------------------------------------------------ >> David M. Lawrence | Home: (804) 559-9786 >> 7471 Brook Way Court | Fax: (804) 559-9787 >> Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> USA | http: http://fuzzo.com >> ------------------------------------------------------ >> >> "We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo >> >> "No trespassing >> 4/17 of a haiku" -- Richard Brautigan >> > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Associate Professor of Biology Texas A&M University-Texarkana Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology http://www.herpconbio.org Summer Teaching Schedule & Office Hours: Ecology: M,W 1-2:40 pm Cell Biology: M 6-9:40 pm (don't ask!) Forensic Science: T,R 10-11:40am Office Hours: MW 12-1, 5-6, TR 11:40-12:30, "until we as a people stop killing each other and stop not getting our education we are never going to be successful." -Charles Barkley
