Thanks, David. Now I don't have to toss all my Darwin stuff into the dustbin.
WT PS: David or others: Can you suggest any shortcuts to the best possible understanding of the pre-contact state of fishes and other aquatic/marine organisms/ecosystems in the New World (although I'm really interested in California, specifically coastal southern California streams and rivers)? I'm also interested in the best possible estimates of watersheds and stream hydrology for that period/region. Works that contrast the pre- and post-contact states and trends would do most of my work for me, which, given my increasing level of laziness, would be most welcome. For example, I am positing that some streams that are today intermittent or dependent upon urban runoff are quite different from their pre-contact states--some flowed "all year," and hosted salmonid runs. (Ethnographic and historical [anecdotal] information [observations] references would be interesting, if not provable. A somewhat aside: Given the popularity of computer models, I'm wondering if any reconstruction of pre-contact climate and hydrology might have been done or in the works . . . It would seem that a program that could do this might be applicable anywhere. ----- Original Message ----- From: <mcnee...@cox.net> To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>; "Wayne Tyson" <landr...@cox.net> Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 10:27 AM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Question Ecology Natural History etc Re: [ECOLOG-L] Hypothesis Testing in Ecology > ---- Wayne Tyson <landr...@cox.net> wrote: >> Ecolog: >> >> What specifically distinguishes natural history from ecology? > > Wayne, Ernst Haeckel coined the term which became our modern term "ecology." > You probably knew this. Haeckel mistook the root of biological science, > natural history, for one of its branches, ecology. Ever since, we have had > this conundrum. > > Ecology is natural history dressed up to look better for those who have > difficulty accepting that science is old and was effective in the old days. > For those who have some sniffing hang-up about being natural historians, > there is no more honorable, nor more interesting, endeavor than trying to > figure out how nature works. And one doesn't have to be arrogant, or attempt > to dismiss other's efforts, to do it effectively. > > David McNeely, fish ecologist (ie., natural historian) > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1204 / Virus Database: 1435/3477 - Release Date: 03/02/11 >
