I mentioned earlier that ecology is the science that looks at the sustainability of natural resources.  So far in this blog, I have mostly ignored ecology in favor of economics and evolution.  I mean to address that gap over the next couple of blog entries. Specifically, I want to give you a shorthand version of… (read more)

Biodiversity is a great value for humans (see Sources of biodiversity).  Many would argue that it is even more important than that – that it is a key aspect of how ecosystems work. The logic for this is straightforward.  Species with similar body plans and lifestyles form a set of “spare parts” (often rather dramatically compared… (read more)