[Taxacom] Metapopulation lineage species concept

[Richard Zander]

To expand on my contention that there is no all-purpose species concept,
I think we taxonomists do recognize rather basic groups of organisms
"out there" and name them as fundamental taxonomic units useful to many
fields of science. Such groups are, we infer, created and sustained for
geological time spans by various natural processes. Species concepts
commonly reflect such processes and generally assert one (or two, one
for asexual organisms) to be most important or most fundamental.

We don't scrabble for an all-purpose species concept because we are
lazy. Yes, the lure of simplicity and some kind of general field theory
for systematics is always there. I think we cleave to one species
concept or another because there IS NO MONEY to do the investigative
work to infer origination and sustaining processes for each and every
species we come across. Working with evolutionists might help ascertain
the scientific processes involved in a particular historical event and
its following anagenesis or stasis, but there is no money to do so. 

For instance, a species derived from hybridization followed by polypoidy
would involve the Polyploidy Species Concept, a bird species might
involve the Biological Species Concept, a species consisting of two
long-isolated but identical populations might involve the Ecological
Species Concept, and spots on the wall might involve the Phylogenetic
Species Concept. The species is there, and we do not need a Concept to
identify it, but to explain it. An egregious example of taxa not
recognized because they do not fit into a Concept are macroevolutionary
ancestor-descendant pairs that flout the antiparaphyly laws. Some taxa,
would you believe, are outlaws?

*****************************
Richard H. Zander 
Voice: 314-577-0276
Missouri Botanical Garden
PO Box 299
St. Louis, MO 63166-0299 USA
richard.zander at mobot.org
Web sites: http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/
and http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/bfnamenu.htm
Non-post deliveries to:
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63110
*****************************

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Thorpe [mailto:s.thorpe at auckland.ac.nz] 
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 2:01 AM
To: Richard Zander; Jody Haynes; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: RE: [Taxacom] Metapopulation lineage species concept

> Just because there are many alternative species concepts does not
throw doubt on the One True Species concept (which in my opinion is:
there isn't any, and systematics exists to classifiy species, not 
> necessarily to figure out how they variously originated).

This statement is a big confusion! 

>systematics exists to classifiy species, not necessarily to figure out
how they variously originated

The species concept determines what it is that systematics is supposed
to classify ... it isn't just about how species originated. In fact, it
had better NOT make assumptions about that - assumptions that could turn
out to be false ...