[ECOLOG-L] Titles
Comrades, Please give some guidence, views or reference to on the wording of the title of a scientific paper. My dilemma is: Titles create a first impression. Would a plain factual concise title tell you the writer is unimaginative? Or would a poetic title suggest one is selling a skunk(!)? What impression do they give you? While this might be a matter of preference or style, are there known 'current' guidelines one can rely on? Are there known limits? *What i find in the (aging) books:* - Concise statement of the main idea or findings - Simple, *not* meant to catch the reader's fancy - Identify the variables under investigation - Specific enough to describe the content - Self explanatory - Brief and reflect factual content At the same time, I it is nice for a title to catch the attention (and magination) of the reader, I am told, and to whet their appetite to read the paper. What is not read is not cited. What is not cited does not contribute to the indices of scientific worth! Regards, Aman Bonaventure, PhD
[ECOLOG-L] Academic Journals, Interest Journals
Hi, Please help. I get inundated with requests for review of manuscripts from journals under 'Academic Journals' and 'Interest Journals' groups, many times outside my interest area. Does anyone know if these are genuine groups in the first place? The conditions set are sometimes rigid (like, doing a review within 3 days). Perhaps it is some kind of online scam, but then how would that work? Kind regards, Aman
[ECOLOG-L] Old Aquarium pumps
Dear Colleagues Does anyone know where we would buy old Aquarium pumps (model RENA 301 [or a comparable one]). We cannot get them from suppliers in Sweden, but someone would perhaps know an alternative. We need these to create positive pressure for odour sampling. We found them cheap and convertible to suction pumps, durable and usable in the field. Does anyone know of a fairly robust alternative? Kind regards, Aman Aman Bonaventure, Diivision of Chemical Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P. O. Box 102, SE 230 53, Alnarp. Sweden.
[ECOLOG-L] Seeking publications
Dear Ecologgers, Please help me obtain any publications describing the relationship between the flight activity of predators/parasitoids and their prey species. I am especially keen on answering the following questions: 1. how does flight activity of an insect natural enemy and its prey relate to its abundance and level of control 2. What is the relevance of flight behaviour of insect species in monitoring populations 3. How would these apply to invasion ecology and biological control? i am studying *Prostephanus truncatus* and its predator *Teretrius nigrescens* but articles in any relevant systems would be really useful. All these articles would be used by me and my supervisors for my PhD thesis (no commercial use whatsoever). Kind regards, Bonaventure Aman, Nairobi, Kenya
[ECOLOG-L] Request for publications
Dear Colleagues, Kindly help me sort two issues: 1. Please send me a copy of this paper. G Grevstaf (2004) Experimental Invasions Using Biological Control Introductions: The Influence of Release Size on the Chance of Population Establishment, *Biological Invasion,s *1:313 – 323 2. Does anyone know of any guidelines on the minimum viable population size of introductions as would be applicable to the biological control using arthropods. I am working on the genetics of an insect predator for a graduate degree, and would like to interrogate some historical issues emerging from the data we got. Please help. Kind regards, Aman
[ECOLOG-L] Isolation by distance and time
Dear Ecologgers, Please help me figure out some ecological genetics problem. Does anybody have an idea of how to combine isolation by distance with time? I am running some analysis on genetic differentiation using molecular markers on an insect species. Isolation by distance is fine, but my sampling plan also involved subgroups originally from the same location but isolated for a long time. As some of the populations ended up in different continents. It would be incorrect to use the new home locations (after introduction) since we know fairly well the original field sources of almost all samples and an approximate date of recovery. I believe some method of combining the time since separation and geographical distance would capture this scenario better. Kindly let us know any ideas or experience with such an analysis. Kind regards, Aman
[ECOLOG-L] Local Extinction of introduced species
Dear Colleagues, Does anyone know some good references on Local extinction of introduced natural enemies as would apply in Biological control? Perhaps a review of the forces involved, long term effects on both pest and natural enemy populations? I working on a possible case of an insect predator but most authors seem to suggest this phenomenon without saying much more. Kind regards, Aman
[ECOLOG-L] Histeridae
Dear Colleagues, Kindly assist me locate a potential source of samples of Histeridae of the Genus Teretrius spp; Neotepetrius spp; Teretriosoma spp (any other Teretrini) and samples of Abraeini spp. We need these some molecular studies (DNA based0 but apart from donated *T. latebricola*, *Abraeus* sp and *Chatabraeus* sp, nothing else is avlailable. Kindly let us know how if anyone has samples in Ethanol or Frozen or good DNA samples. Kind regards, Bonaventure Kenya.
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Obamanomics and the Environment
Dear All, Looking at your posting, I can see some evidence of the ideas Edward O. Wilson put forth on Economics in the last Chapter of his book *Consilience - * the unity of knowledge. Wilson argues, quite compellingly that economic progress must be measured by the good a process delivers to our race (profit) minus the (negative) effect of that process to Mother Nature (my own words). The eventural difficulty with which we obtan natural resources, though an indication of the debilitating effects of yester years' over exploitation, often reflect only as a small fraction of added production costs. And it is no coincidence Wilson has had a long career at Havard, and an Entomologist (or Ecologist) like many of us! It would be interesting to know where this leaning leads the fast maturing field of environmental economics, and how it fits with the myraid of economic assumptions and models! Aman, Kenya On 11/6/08, Czech, Brian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Based upon the excerpt (from the article "Obamanomics") pasted below, Obama > apparently has the knowledge to put an end to the erosion of common sense > that plagued the landscape of our political economy - not to mention our > landscape per se! - for the past couple of decades. The bipartisan rhetoric > from the highest positions that "there is no conflict between growing the > economy and protecting the environment" led citizens to believe it, > corporations to hide behind it, and shenanigans all over academia and the > civil service. Obama might be the one to tell it like it is. > > > > Of course, no presidential candidate is yet in a position to be a viable > contender without putting forth a pro-growth agenda. Obama did that and is > now accountable for following through. The best we can realistically hope > for is some explicit leadership on the trade-off between economic growth and > environmental protection (etc.), even while the growth is being facilitated > via macroeconomic policy. Even that is not very likely, though. > > > > It is still going to take a ground-up movement, which I believe is best > founded upon the professional society position statement, to empower > politicians of any party to provide real leadership on this topic; i.e., > leadership that will temper consumer behavior and reform macroeconomic > policies. Along those lines, I have not yet taken an opportunity to address > the activities in ESA in this regard since the annual meeting, which I had > to miss. That shouldn't be viewed as a lack of anything other than > time. CASSE has been very busy in the wake of the financial meltdowns, with > the media finally seeking answers more rooted in reality - i.e., ecological > reality - than those of the un-ecologically rooted monetarists. > > > > Well, here is the excerpt from > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/magazine/24Obamanomics-t.html?pagewanted=print< > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/magazine/24Obamanomics-t.html?pagewanted=print> > : > > > > "Shortly after I boarded Obama's campaign plane this month, one of his > press aides warned me that the conversation might not last long. She > explained that he was exhausted from two days of campaigning in Florida and > might decide to nap as soon as he got on the plane. But a few minutes later > he summoned me to the plane's first-class section, evidently choosing an > economics discussion over a DVD of "Mad Men," which was sitting on his side > table. His eyes were tired, and he looked a good deal older than he had only > four years ago, on the night that he became famous at the 2004 Democratic > convention. But we ended up talking for an hour. After I returned to my > seat, the press aide walked back to tell me that Obama had more to say. > > > > "Two things," he said, as we were standing outside the first-class > bathroom. "One, just because I think it really captures where I was going > with the whole issue of balancing market sensibilities with moral sentiment. > One of my favorite quotes is - you know that famous Robert F. Kennedy quote > about the measure of our G.D.P.?" > > > > I didn't, I said. > > > > "Well, I'll send it to you, because it's one of the most beautiful of his > speeches," Obama said. > > > > In it, Kennedy argues that a country's health can't be measured simply by > its economic output. That output, he said, "counts special locks for our > doors and the jails for those who break them" but not "the health of our > children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play." > > > > The second point Obama wanted to make was about sustainability. The current > concerns about the state of the planet, he said, required something of a > paradigm shift for economics. If we don't make serious changes soon, > probably in the next 10 or 15 years, we may find that it's too late. > > > > Both of these points, I realized later, were close cousins of two of the > weaker arguments that liberals have made in recent decades. Liberals have at > times dismissed
[ECOLOG-L] Washing sticky trap glue off small beetles
Dear Comrades, Kindly help me get ideas on what solvent would be useful for cleaning off small beetles from a sticky trap (delta trap). I would like to extract their DNA for molecular studies but the glue just wont let me. Please help. Kind regards, Bonaventure Aman
[ECOLOG-L] Marking histerids - Please help
Dear Colleagues, Do you know any products that would be used in marking tiny black histerids (1.5mm long)? I need to do mating studies between populations of these insects, which I cannot sex visually, so I have to pair them randomly hoping some will end up with potential mating partners, but then I must be able to identify or even mark populations without killing them first!! The only sexing technique I know is by dissection! Please help. Aman
