subspecies

[Curtis Clark]

At 07:21 AM 11/10/99 -0500, Les Kaufman wrote:
>One issue is being overlooked in this subspecies argument.  The US
>Endangered Species act requires recognition of evolutionarily stable units
>(ESU's) so that endangered, genetically distinct populations of particular
>taxa can be protected: to wit, salmonid runs.  Does it help to grant these
>esu's status as subspecies?

Good point. Over a decade ago, I had a graduate student that showed clearly
that Enceliopsis nudicaulis var. corrugata, a Federally listed species,
intergrades with var. nudicaulis in southern Nevada. We intentionally held
off on saying anything about it until after the Nature Conservancy bought
Ash Meadow, the unique habitat where it lived.

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Curtis Clark                  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/
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