Hello, I once saw a presentation regarding the UBC's website and forum and was impressed by your good work. I was wondering what you think of the idea of setting up a forums for: - Botanical Ecology & Naturalist studies (essentially plants "in situ and in context" - this would be geared toward discussion of the science of ecology and things like floral communities etc.) - Plant fossils and Paleobotany (It would only get a limited amount of use but there exist essentially no forums regarding this subject) S! - Avimimus
I agree with Avimimus somewhat, a botanical ecology forum sparks my interest. I'd like to see how a botany forum scientifically related to plants would go (i.e. questions about photosynthesis and similar biochem. inquieries).
I'm glad you agree. I think such a forum would become populated fairly quickly. I have quite a few questions regarding chemical ecology for instance and I am sure there are knowledgeable people about on these forums (in anycase, I will get my questions answered sooner or later and be around to pass on the information). The trickier one is the "fossil plants and paleobotany" forum. There are many people who who have an interest fossil plants (think of the Carboniferous faunas), just no one has the leverage to set up an online community. As it stands, only one paleobotany listserve is extant (I'm on it, and it is only used for formal academic announcements or invitations regarding publications, conferences etc.) I have also been doing some literature research over the past couple of years into mesozoic paleofloras - quite a bit of information actually exists, even if most people can't find it (it took me a couple of years to develop a search image).
Just a heads-up - I will address your request when I have a spot of time - working to complete a project on deadline right now, but things will be a lot better for me to consider this soon.
Take your time. Both plant fossils and ecological systems have been around since before the carboniferous so we can certainly wait a few more weeks...
Yes, I am still here (subscribed to the thread anyway). I believe that the "plant fossils and paleobotany" forum, while not being the most active forum, would do relatively well. I believe the squid site "www.tonmo.com" has comparable forum for cephalopods and it has been quite successful. I'm less certain about the "ecology" type of forum or how it would be best brought about. It would be interesting to have an online space for discussion of "landscape level" topics such as: - the structure of plant communities (guilds and niches, types of forests) - gene flow & evolution, biogeography and patterns in species diversity - impacts of climatic, edaphic conditions and adaptations relating to them etc. I have a couple of projects which are likely going to keep me relatively busy for the next few months. But, I'd be willing to help if I can. So, what do you think about all of this? Any ideas?
