To: Recipients of ECOLOG-L digests <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Subject: ECOLOG-L Digest - 11 Feb 2002 to 12 Feb 2002 (#2002-40)
There are 8 messages totalling 406 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. simulation models for riparian vegetation dynamics
2. source of "adaptive radiation" (2)
3. The New York Times Science
4. gen bio text
5. In Ohio School Hearing, a New Theory Will Seek a Place Alongside Evolut
on
6. handheld data recorders
7. handheld data recorders (addenda)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 02:09:53 -0800
From: Jonathan Greenberg <greenberg@UCDAVIS.EDU>
Subject: Re: simulation models for riparian vegetation dynamics
Mark:
I, too, am starting out making some vegetation simulations, and you
should check out the SWARM simulation system (www.swarm.org) -- I've found
it really helps to quickly develop spatially explicit models without a huge
learning curve...
--j
On 2/11/02 4:59 PM, "Mark Dixon" <Mark.Dixon@ASU.EDU> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm in the early stages of putting together a model to simulate the eff
cts of
> groundwater changes on the distribution and successional dynamics of
> southwestern riparian vegetation (Fremont cottonwood, Goodding willow,
> saltcedar, velvet mesquite, etc.). I'm a bit of a novice modeler and w
uld
> love to see how others have modeled similar systems, but I only know of
a few
> examples (Pearlstine and Kitchens 1985, Johnson 1992, Richter and Richt
r
> 2000). Does anyone know of other good examples? I'm thinking about tr
ing to
> do something STELLA-based, so that it will be fairly user-friendly.
>
> Mark Dixon
> Postdoctoral Research Associate
> Arizona State University
> Mark.Dixon@asu.edu
>
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jonathan Greenberg
Graduate Group in Ecology, U.C. Davis
http://www.cstars.ucdavis.edu/~jongreen
http://www.cstars.ucdavis.edu
AIM: jgrn307
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 10:00:59 -0500
From: "Michael C. Swift" <mcs8n@VIRGINIA.EDU>
Subject: source of "adaptive radiation"
List Folks,
A colleague is writing about adaptive radiation and would like to
know who coined the phrase "adaptive radiation" or used it first.
Please answer to me at "mcs8n@virginia.edu" or to the list. Thanks,
in advance, for your help.
Mike Swift
--
Michael C. Swift On Sabbatical Aug. 2001 - Aug 2002
Biology Department Biology Dept.
St. Olaf College University of Virginia
1520 St. Olaf Ave. email: mcs8n@virginia.edu
Northfield, MN 55057
tel: 507-646-3886 1535 1/2 Dairy Drive
email: swift@stolaf.edu Charlottesville, VA 22903
Tel: 434-696-8360
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 11:02:49 -0500
From: Karen Claxon <kclaxon@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: The New York Times Science
A few interesting articles in the science section today:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html
Floridians Face Off on the Manatee's Future
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Manatees have become a symbol of the struggle to balance the needs of
the state's wildlife and the rights of boaters and shorefront property
owners.
Storm in Mexico Devastates Monarch Butterfly Colonies
By CAROL KAESUK YOON
In the largest known die-off ever of monarch butterflies, two colonies
that make up the entire breeding stock for the eastern United States and
Canada were decimated by a storm.
Lure of the Exotic Stirs Trouble in the Animal Kingdom
By MARK DERR
Tens of billions of dollars a year are spent on illegal exotic pets. But
that still does not reflect the ecological, social and health costs.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 10:14:36 -0600
From: "D. Liane Cochran-Stafira" <cochran@SXU.EDU>
Subject: gen bio text
Thanks to all who responded to my inquiry about macro to micro texts. It
looks like the Levine and Miller text may be the only one available, and
I'm not to sure about its availability since the former publisher (DC
HEATH) has been sold, and the text is no longer listed.
Liane
***************************
Liane Cochran-Stafira, Ph.D.
Department of Biology
Saint Xavier University
3700 West 103rd Street
Chicago, Illinois 60655
phone: 773-298-3514
fax: 773-779-9061
email: cochran@sxu.edu
http://www.sxu.edu/science/faculty_staff/cochran_stafira/
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 11:19:20 -0500
From: "Debra K. Andreadis" <andreadisd@DENISON.EDU>
Subject: Re: source of "adaptive radiation"
"Michael C. Swift" wrote:
>
> List Folks,
>
> A colleague is writing about adaptive radiation and would like to
> know who coined the phrase "adaptive radiation" or used it first.
The Oxford English Dictionary and Random House unabridged agree about
the timing of this one. The OED gives the source as:
1902 H. F. OSBORN in Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. XVI. 92 They represent
an adaptive radiation for different local habitat, different modes of
feeding, fighting, locomotion, etc. 1902 OSBORN in Amer. Naturalist May
353 One of the essential features of divergent evolution..has been
termed by the writer ^Ñadaptive radiation^Ò. This term seems to express
most clearly the idea of differentiation of habit in several directions
from a primitive type.
I hope this helps.
Debra Andreadis
--
Debra Andreadis
Science Liaison/Reference Librarian
William Howard Doane Library
Denison University
P.O. Box L
Granville, Ohio 43023
Phone: (740) 587-5653
Fax: (740) 587-6285
E-mail: andreadisd@denison.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 11:25:48 -0500
From: Karen Claxon <kclaxon@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: In Ohio School Hearing,
a New Theory Will Seek a Place Alongside Evolution
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/11/education/11CREA.html?todaysheadlines
February 11, 2002
In Ohio School Hearing, a New Theory Will Seek a Place Alongside
Evolution
By FRANCIS X. CLINES
OLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 4 - The latest challenge to evolution's primacy in
the nation's classrooms - the theory of intelligent design, not the old
foe creationism - will get a full- scale hearing next month before Ohio
Board of Education members, who are in a heated debate over whether
established science censors other views about the origins of life.
"It's a stacked deck," said Deborah Owens-Fink, a state school board
member and an outspoken supporter of the intelligent design movement.
Supporters of this theory acknowledge that the earth is billions of
years old, not thousands, as a literal reading of the Bible suggests.
They also accept that organisms change over time, according to commonly
held principles of evolution. But they dispute the idea that the
astounding complexity of the earth's plants and animals could have just
happened through natural selection, the force that Darwin suggested
drives evolution. An intelligent designer - perhaps the God of Genesis,
perhaps someone or something else - had to get the ball rolling, they
contend.
"This is not a fringe movement," said Ms. Owens-Fink, a marketing
professor at the University of Akron. "I find it intellectually
intriguing."
She spoke as a member of a state school board subcommittee with a
five-member majority that favors inserting intelligent design alongside
evolution in the state's new teaching standards. Such an order would
overrule a draft proposal by a 45-member advisory panel of science
teachers. If the full 18-member state board upholds it, it would be the
first major victory for the intelligent design movement, which has
gained attention in recent years as creationists suffered setbacks in
court.
Critics say it would make Ohio a laughingstock to rival Kansas, where
school board members voted in 1999 to delete evolution from the state's
recommended science curriculum and standardized tests. The board was
eventually turned out by voters and evolution was restored.
Opponents of intelligent design view it as a sophisticated variation on
the decades-old effort to force theism into the public schools.
"It's a shrouded way of bringing religion into the schools," said Martha
W. Wise, a state board member who is the lone opponent of intelligent
design on the standards subcommittee. "Personally I'm creationist: I
believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth," said
Ms. Wise, a retired business executive. She emphasized, however, that
her belief had no place in a science lesson. "I think intelligent design
is a theology, and it belongs in another curriculum."
The board's science standards subcommittee has scheduled a hearing next
month for a debate on intelligent design. Its proponents insist that
eons of evolutionary fact should not be dismissed, but simply
supplemented with what they call origins science, defined as the study
of intelligent causes that are empirically detectable in nature.
"There would be a major revolt in Ohio if that were accepted," said Lynn
E. Elfner, a member of the board's science advisory panel and chief
executive of the Ohio Academy of Science, a nonprofit professional
organization of 1,500 members.
Mr. Elfner said intelligent design was a political movement dressed in
scientific jargon presenting "the old seductive argument" of being fair
to both sides. "But it doesn't play well in science if the other side is
not a science," he said.
The subcommittee majority's favorable view toward the movement was made
clear last month at a meeting in which it gave John H. Calvert, a Kansas
City lawyer who is co-founder of the Intelligent Design Network, 30
minutes to speak without giving evolution supporters an opportunity for
rebuttal.
Mr. Calvert called on Ohio to establish "a level playing field" by
having science teachers suggest in classes that "a mind or some form of
intelligence is necessary to produce life and its diversity."
Evolutionary science is elitist and unfairly "inhibits theism," he said.
Board members met here this week to hear a detailed briefing from Dr.
David L. Haury, associate professor of science education at Ohio State
University. Dr. Haury told them that a theory, by definition, was one of
the strongest statements science can make - something rigorously tested
across years of experiment and peer review. While many scientists "admit
to a greater reality" beyond their discipline, this hardly undermines
evolution, he said.
"Science has no statement to make beyond the natural world," Dr. Haury
said. "Intelligent design is about how things got started. Evolution is
about how they change across time."
Board members firmly disagreed with him that the distinction was
critical. "Well-credentialed scientists think it should be part of the
debate," Mike Cochran, a member and lawyer, said of intelligent design.
Supporters of intelligent design claim the support of various academics
and scientists, including Dr. Michael J. Behe, a biology professor at
Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, who set out the theory in his book
"Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution." He argued
that various biochemical structures in cells could not have been built
step by Darwinian step.
But critics say that testing, not credentials, must ultimately verify
any scientist's new claim.
"Intelligent design is a repackaging of the antievolution movement to
try to withstand court challenges by avoiding the C-word," said Dr.
Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science
Education in Oakland, Calif., which promotes the teaching of evolution.
Dr. Scott said that some scientists may have interesting antievolution
theses still to be tested and proved but in the meantime they should not
be used to force quasi-religious theories on science students.
"Intelligent design is distinctly not ready for prime time," she said.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 09:36:41 -0700
From: cmm65 <Chris.McGlone@NAU.EDU>
Subject: handheld data recorders
Hello Ecologgers,
A few weeks back I posted a request for information about handheld data
recorders for field work. First, I'd like to thank all the respondents for
their feedback. There were also some requests that I post the results of my
inquiry. So here they are:
I received positive feedback about the following:
Husky fex21 field computers
Fujitsu pen driven field computers
I have also used TDS Ranger handhelds and was very pleased with them
All of the above are fieldworthy handhelds (i.e., shock resistant, waterproo
,
etc..). They are also all fairly pricey ($1000-3000). Since we'll need to
purchase 10-12 handhelds, this goes way beyond our budget.
We also had several recommendations for PDA's. Among those recommended were
Compaq iPAQ
Handspring Visor
Palm (various)
Budget constraints have motivated us to try this route. We've purchased a
Handspring Visor Pro and Palm m500 to try out in the field before making a
final decision. The Handspring and Palm models are very similar. Both use
Palm OS and run database programs that are fully compatible with MS Access.
The Handspring has more internal memory and is less expensive, but the Palm
m500 has less expensive memory and expansion cards.
The Compaq iPAC runs Windows CE. It's a lot more expensive, but it can run
palmtop version of MS Access. It also has a lot more memory and Compaq sell
a shock- and water-resistant case. However, I received mixed reviews about
the stability of Windows CE and it seems unnecessarily extravagant for field
use.
Lastly, I received several emails recommending that we NOT buy the HP Jornad
.
The screen is apparently pretty much illegible under field conditions. I'v
used one of these in the past, and wasn't very impressed with its constructi
n
(pretty flimsy).
Anyway, hope this helps. Thanks again to everyone who responded.
Chris McGlone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christopher M. McGlone
Research Specialist
Ecological Restoration Institute
Northern Arizona University, Box 15017
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Chris.McGlone@nau.edu
(928)523-7739
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 15:45:01 -0700
From: cmm65 <Chris.McGlone@NAU.EDU>
Subject: handheld data recorders (addenda)
Hello Ecologgers,
In checking my notes, I seem to have made a slight mistake regarding MS
Access. As far as palmtop computers go, there is a version available with th
HP Jornada 700 series. The HP Jornada palmtops run Windows Pocket PC instead
of Windows CE (the OS found on the Compaq iPAC). There is, so far as I know,
no version of Access available for Windows CE. It is likely, though, that on
will become available in the not-too-distant future. One point I should make
about the Windows-driven palmtops is that they all incorporate color screens
The color screens are MUCH harder to see in bright sunlight. This is why we
opted for the Palm m500 and Visor Pro. They run on Palm OS and have black an
white screens. As far as database programs go, there is a Palm OS-driven
program called Pendragon which is fully compatable with MS Access. The only
downside of Pendragon is that you can only create flat files (i.e., you can'
have complex linkages). You can, however, create subforms.
Hope this clarifies some of the confusion. If you have any more questions,
feel free to contact me.
Chris McGlone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christopher M. McGlone
Research Specialist
Ecological Restoration Institute
Northern Arizona University, Box 15017
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Chris.McGlone@nau.edu
(928)523-7739
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------
Subject: ECOLOG-L Digest - 7 Feb 2002 to 8 Feb 2002 (#2002-37)
There are 5 messages totalling 165 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Seeking volunteer field hands in British Columbia
2. MS Assistantship in Plant Ecology
3. 1-yr Job Opportunity, B.S.-M.S. level, Plant-animal interactions, Las
Cruces NM
4. Audubon Bird Conservation News - Winter 2002
5. summer temporary position
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 21:13:44 -0800
From: Daniel Bolnick <dibolnick@UCDAVIS.EDU>
Subject: Seeking volunteer field hands in British Columbia
Dear All,
If anyone knows of undergraduates, post-graduates, or other interested
parties who would like to gain some short-term research experience as
volunteers, the University Research Expeditions Program run by the
University of California offers a broad range of volunteer opportunities in
field research (www.urep.ucdavis.edu) and is an excellent resource.
In particular, I am looking for volunteers to help set up a large-scale
experiment as part of my Ph.D.. The project will be on Vancouver Island,
British Columbia, Canada this spring (April 16-30), and tests test whether
intraspecific competition generates disruptive selection. Any potential
volunteers can contact me directly at dibolnick@ucdavis.edu, or can read
about the project at http://www.urep.ucdavis.edu/Bolnick.html
Thanks for your attention,
Dan Bolnick
Graduate Group in Population Biology
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616 USA
530-752-6784
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 10:38:53 -0600
From: "K. C. Larson" <KLarson@MAIL.UCA.EDU>
Subject: MS Assistantship in Plant Ecology
POSITION: MS Graduate Assistantship in Plant Ecology
THE PROJECT: A recently awarded USDA grant will fund a MS student to
investigate the mechanisms that allow the the exotic invader, Japanese
Honeysuckle, to outcompete the native Coral Honeysuckle for the support
hosts these vines climb. Our focus is on documenting the differences in the
movement patterns of the native and exotic congengers as they enter new
areas and explore for and colonize support hosts. The project requires
establishing an experimental garden from plant material collected in the
nearby Ouachita and Ozark National Forests. The successful applicant can
expect to work mostly with experimental plants in the field,
but also with plants in greenhouses and growth chambers. We will be
documenting plant growth and movement as well as the interactions of the
exotic species with local pollinating insects. The project will lead to a be
ter
understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to invasiveness in these
plants.
LOCATION: The project is based at the University of Central Arkansas,
which is located within 50 miles of both the Ozark National Forest and the
Ouachita National Forest. These areas are known especially for their
beautiful streams and great canoeing, but an abundance of outdoor
recreational options can be found in both areas. Our graduate program is a
relatively small one, but one where students have the opportunity to work
closely with faculty advisors.
TO LEARN MORE: For further information check out my web page at:
http://www.uca.edu/divisions/academic/biology/faculty/larson.htm
To get information on how to apply or to ask more specific questions email
me at: klarson@mail.uca.edu
Katherine C. Larson
Department of Biology
University of Central Arkansas
Conway, AR 72035
PHONE: 501-450-5928
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 11:02:32 -0700
From: Brandon Bestelmeyer <bbestelm@NMSU.EDU>
Subject: 1-yr Job Opportunity, B.S.-M.S. level, Plant-animal interactions,
Las Cruces NM
We have an immediate opening for a full-time 1 yr research assistant
position at the Jornada Experimental Range in Las Cruces. Extension is
contingent upon funding. The salary will be $26,873 with no benefits.
Applicants should have a B.S. or M.S. degree and experience in field
ecology, preferably in deserts.
This position is to work on a cross-site Long-Term Ecological Research site
project examining the effects of small animals on grass growth and
establishment across grassland-shrubland ecotones. Work will include helping
to design and execute experiments to a) determine the effects of small
mammals on black grama grass seedlings and b) determine the extent to which
ants use black grama seeds. Additional work will involve vegetation
monitoring in mammal exclosures and collection of site characterization
data. Work will be performed near Las Cruces, at the Sevilleta NWR in
central New Mexico, and at Big Bend National Park, Texas. The position will
be based in Las Cruces.
Please send a resume or CV including the names and contact information of 3
recommenders to Brandon Bestelmeyer at the address or email below.
*******************************
Brandon Bestelmeyer, Ph.D
USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range
New Mexico State University
MSC 3JER Box 30003
Las Cruces, NM 88003
Ph: 505-646-5139
FAX: 505-646-5889
bbestelm@nmsu.edu
*******************************
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 17:24:44 -0500
From: "CECIL, John" <jcecil@AUDUBON.ORG>
Subject: Audubon Bird Conservation News - Winter 2002
To read the Winter edition of Audubon's Bird Conservation Newsletter (an
electronic periodical that brings you up to date on the accomplishments and
work of Audubon's Bird Conservation Program) visit
http://www.audubon.org/bird/news.html
<http://www.audubon.org/bird/news.html> . Highlights include IBA Pro
ram
updates, as well as policy, sanctuary, and educational news along with
upcoming meetings and events, as they relate to bird conservation.
Apologizes for cross postings.
-------------------------------------------
John P. Cecil
National Audubon Society
Audubon Science Office
545 Almshouse Road
Ivyland, Pennsylvania 18974
PH: 215-355-9588 ext. 15
jcecil@audubon.org
-------------------------------------------
Founded in 1905 and supported by 600,000 members in more than 500 chapters
throughout the Americas, the mission of the National Audubon Society is to
conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other
wildlife, and their habitats, for the benefit of humanity and the earth's
biological diversity.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 16:33:08 -0600
From: Cindy Becker <beckec@MAIL.CONSERVATION.STATE.MO.US>
Subject: summer temporary position
Please post the accompanying job announcement. Thank you.
____________________________________________________________________________
__
TEMPORARY RESEARCH TECHNICIANS (10 positions, mid-May to mid-August) Birds o
Herps. Seasonal technicians to work as part of the Riparian Ecosystem Asse
sment and Management project, a long-term project to describe the floral and
faunal characteristics of northern Missouri riparian forests and their respo
ses to forest management. BIRDS (4 positions): conduct point-count surveys
nd/or nest searching and monitoring. HERPS (6 positions): collect species c
mposition data using permanent trapping arrays and mark (toe-clipping) /rec
pture methodology. Qualifications: Current enrollment in, or graduation fro
, a natural resources degree program. Previous field experience is highly d
sirable especially with bird ID. Must be able to tolerate high concentratio
s of mosquitoes and poison ivy. $8.29 per hour, 40 hours/week. Housing and
utilities provided, if desired. Application deadline: March 8, 2002. Please
send cover letter(with expressed area of interest: bird or herp),!
resume, unofficial transcripts, and list of 3 references (names, phone #'s,
and e-mail addresses) to: Anthony Elliott, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, P
O. Box 356, Atlanta, MO 63530 660-239-4245; e-mail (inquiries only): elliot
mail.conservation.state.mo.us .
------------------------------
End of ECOLOG-L Digest - 7 Feb 2002 to 8 Feb 2002 (#2002-37)
************************************************************
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ
Thanks to discussion with TVR, I have decided to put a link to back files of the discussion group. This months back files.
The link to complete archives is available elsewhere.
This text was originally an e-mail. It was converted using a program
RUPANTAR- a simple e-mail-to-html converter.
(c)Kolatkar Milind. kmilind@ces.iisc.ernet.in