More on Taxonomy and Conservation (minor rant)
ConroeJoe@aol.com (Sat, 24 Jan 2004 11:44:55 PST)

In a message dated 1/24/2004 12:07:57 PM Central Standard Time, Jshields
writes:

Hi,

It seems likely that "ex situ" conservation is all that is possible for many
lineages. Predicting the future is tricky, for economists, politicians, and
biologists. Some predictions about loss of plants are startling in their
claims, and very sad if they are anywhere near true. The one that got my attention
recently was published this month in the science journal Nature. The
prediction was that 15% to 37% of the world's species of plants and animals will be
lost by 2050 if current warming trends continue.

The study explored a range of geographic and biodiversity regions from
Europe, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Cape Floristic Region (South Africa). Some of
these locations have provided exceptional bulb species and are of interest to
this group for that reason alone. But they are also interesting because the
authors claim the geographic locations are representative of much of the earth,
and allow extrapolation of findings.

Naturally, the greatest uncertainty in the study was global warming: 1) will
it continue and 2) how much warming can be expected. Opinions vary, but I'm
in the group that thinks global warming is not going away.

LINK 1: National Geographic Magazine report of Study
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/…

LINK 2: CBS News Report of Study
http://cbsnews.com/stories/2004/…

Cordially,