BSC

[Dr. Neil Snow]

Those who think botanists by and large "misunderstand" the BSC should read Alan
Whittemore's paper.

Whittemore, A. T. 1993. Species concepts: a reply to Ernst Mayr.  Taxon 42:
573-583.

NS

Bill Shear wrote:

> This is an all-too-common misunderstanding of the BSC.  The question is not
> an "ability to interbreed," but the presence of reproductive isolation
> between populations.  In other words, being a species is a relationship
> with other populations, not an intrinsic property of the population itself.
> Similarly, if we do not know of the existance of your siblings, we cannot
> call you a brother or a sister.  Those two terms denote a relationship, not
> an intrinsic property of you yourself.  BSC defines a species not as a
> freely interbreeding population, but as a population that is REPRODUCTIVELY
> ISOLATED from other such populations.
>
> Do all botanists misunderstand the BSC to this extent?  If that is the
> case, then their dissatisfaction with it should be easily put aside (just
> kidding, I know there are many other difficulties in applying the BSC to
> plant taxa).
>
> Bill Shear
> Department of Biology
> Hampden-Sydney College
> Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
> (804)223-6172
> FAX (804)223-6374
> email<bills at hsc.edu>