collecting

[Fewless, Gary]

Hello

This discussion has been very stimulating.   I feel a few points of concern
are justified. Any rancor in my comments is directed toward the long
standing disregard for taxonomists and not the participants in this
discussion.

>From: Stinger
>Subject: Re: collecting

>the sad fact from my
>long experience is that there aren't enough experts around to make IDs.
>Turnaround time at many herbaria is on the order of years.

This is true, but part of the reason that there are too few taxonomists is
because developers, general consultants and agencies have not been willing
to pay for the taxonomic expertise which is necessary, and they have not
been compelled to do so. It is difficult to look a student in the eye and
say that they will be likely to make a decent living as a taxonomist, if
their work is considered to be so trivial that volunteers and high school
students can and will be prevailed upon to do it. Then to say that the small
number of taxonomists is another reason not to require professionals for
this task, is not logical.  You can't develop an adequate pool of
taxonomists, unless you provide some incentive for people to become
taxonomists.

I understand there are "realities" in the work place, but the various
agencies and consultants are not employing volunteers to do their financial
planning, engineering or construction.  They should not be allowed to do so
for taxonomy.  It is a different matter when environmental organizations
employ volunteers to gather information which is not mandated, but when
knowledge of the taxa is mandated, we are enabling this devaluation of
taxonomy by allowing volunteers to substitute for professionals.

>another part involves
>very focused training aimed at a few important taxa.

Apt students (i.e. with interest in the subject) can be trained to recognize
a few clear cut species with good success.  However they generally do not
develop an awareness of habitats and associated species which is often of
great use in locating rare species in the field.  After all, identifying
rare taxa is only possible after they are found, and novices frequently do
not read the landscape sufficiently well to find rare taxa.  Further, they
are not likely to recognize the species in any condition other than optimal.
Therefore, while they may be correct in recognizing rare taxa under some
conditions, many incidences are likely not to be recognized and so will
never even get a chance for identification. Finally, they will not be likely
to find any unexpected species for which they have not been specifically
trained.

>We have had some
>luck with confirmation by digital photographs and selective vouchering
>with a group of High School students that we are working with.
>Verification is key.  Users need to be able to verify that what they
>have is what they think it is after keying it out.  Our Virtual
>Herbarium serves much of that purpose, as well as key characteristic
>pages that we are only now beginning to put up.  I am interested to hear
>from others about their experiences in getting untrained people to make
>correct IDs.

Certainly good things can come from this type of pursuit, not the least of
which is that high school students may learn that they have an interest in
such work, which might alleviate the problem of finding future taxonomists.
Certainly, people can learn from this approach and some correct
identifications will result. It is a good idea to have well-trained
volunteers in the field helping to find new populations and new habitats.
However, at the bottom of all these approaches, is the idea that we can
short circuit the process of the years of training and commitment which are
required to produce a professional taxonomist.  I would argue that this
should not be the goal.

Gary Fewless