The BDFFP gets a burst of fresh air

[written by Ricardo Rocha]

Forest fragment BDFFPForest fragment BDFFP

In the mid-70s a heated debate over the applicability of E. O. Wilson & Robert MacArthur’s Theory of Island Biogeography to conservation planning puzzled ecologists around the globe. Some defended that the best approach to conserve biodiversity was to create large reserves whereas others argued that several smaller reserves would do a better job. This debate, which came to be known as SLOSS (Single Large or Several Small), eventually triggered the North American conservationist Thomas Lovejoy to design a large scale experiment to try to obtain much needed data to support the debate, which until then was mainly about ecological theory than actual data. The project, initially christened as Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystem Project came to be in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest, 80 km North of Manaus, Brazil. Continue reading

Tropical biologists need help

Tropical biologists need help”. Such a strong and unequivocal statement opened last week’s Journal Club. The paper selected was Sheil & Lawrence’s 2004 opinion piece “Tropical biologists, local people and conservation: new opportunities for collaboration” (see complete reference below).

This opinion piece catches Lawrence and Sheil in service of a layered, thought-provoking article revolving around the great importance of integrating local peoples in the conservation challenge in tropical latitudes. The authors reach out tentatively into the frequently unexplored genre of scientific opinion to present the idea that tropical biologists need to start shifting their sight from conventional sampling to the new opportunities provided by working with local people in order to develop effective conservation strategies in the Tropics. To back their viewpoint, they provide an extensive list of successful experiences of local collaborations across the tropical, which constitutes most of the body of the text. Later on, they discuss some obstacles to explain the meager implementation of these approaches and their frequent out-of-sight position to mainstream biologists. Yet, the promise that this opinion entails gives way to some weaknesses, which were at the core of our Journal’s Club debate. More than concentrating on the actual opinions presented in the paper (to be honest, we all quite agreed in essence with them), our discussion glided over more stylistic issues on how to write a good opinion piece. Some points at the technical level were also discussed. Continue reading