Josh at Thoughts from Kansas makes some good points today about the need for more systematists (scientists who describe new species), launching his musings from an article in today's New York Times about the remarkable Eastern Arc mountains by...d'oh! That was by me. Man, I have got to do a better job of staying ahead of the blogging curve.
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The Times reviews a biological Hot Spot in Tanzania:
So far, researchers have identified 96 endemic species of vertebrates in the Eastern Arc Mountains, including sunbirds, chameleons and the wide-eyed primates called bushbabies.
Many insects are also endemic to the Eastern Arc, including 43…
What's your name?
Josh Rosenau
What do you do when you're not blogging?
I write my thesis. Sometimes there's some insect collecting, some photography, or some cooking.
What is your blog called?
Thoughts from Kansas.
What's up with that name?
Good question! It started out as a placeholder, but it…
A month has passed.
It was a steep learning curve, but I think I have climbed high enough on it to be confident that I'll be fine on my own back in Chapel Hill. Being a part of the PLoS team is such an exhillarating experience - there is so much energy and optimism around the office, everybody from…
tags: Tanzania, biodiversity hot-spot
The Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania are home to many species that live nowhere else in the world, including butterflies, frogs, trees and chameleons. Image: NYTimes.
"This is a really important place," said Neil Burgess, an expert on the Eastern Arc…
Nice piece, Carl. It's sad though that the work of these systematist seems to be one of post-catalogation. These patches of forest are encroached already by urban/rural development, so scientist are just going there to collect as many species to describe before they go extinct. It's true that some government in Africa and elsewhere are making some effforts at conservation, but they will only last until there's a financial incentive from us developed countries, either direct, or indirect from tourism. There is a global lack of culture reegarding the importance of preserving the forests 'per-se'. In europe people have the idea of forests as 'place where tourist can do trekking', or disney-fairytales environments; in africa they are dangerous places, or at the most valuable resources for export. I see this every day in the words of my african girlfriend, and my european work mates.
On another subject, I just started reading your "Parasite Rex" yesterday night, and I had to force myself to put it down around one o'clock. I'm going to be jet-lagged the whole day. But I don't regret it ;-)