WHY ???
The majority of dragonfly research is, understandably centred upon “Where”. National and international recording schemes are vital – if we don’t know where our dragonflies live we cannot conserve them and their habitats.
But in order to really understand “Where” we also need to ask “Why”. Let me give an example:
Look at the European Atlas (Boudot and Kalkman 2015) Coenagrion puella and Coenagrion pulchellum have a fairly similar distribution; perhaps C. pulchellum is more central European. In England C. puella is everywhere but C. pulchellum is much more local. Here in Sussex it is found in all the major levels areas and on quite a few well vegetated lakes. Move west to Dorset and, although there are similar habitats, C. pulchellum is virtually absent. – Why?
It isn’t just distribution, the “Why” question applies to all aspects of dragonfly natural history; this is the stuff that pHDs are made of. This page poses the Why question. Does it provide answers? Probably not. Just a lot more questions.
Sometimes I will end the page with a theory – you may think it rubbish. Let me know; let’s get the “Why” debate going, who knows where it might lead us.
But in order to really understand “Where” we also need to ask “Why”. Let me give an example:
Look at the European Atlas (Boudot and Kalkman 2015) Coenagrion puella and Coenagrion pulchellum have a fairly similar distribution; perhaps C. pulchellum is more central European. In England C. puella is everywhere but C. pulchellum is much more local. Here in Sussex it is found in all the major levels areas and on quite a few well vegetated lakes. Move west to Dorset and, although there are similar habitats, C. pulchellum is virtually absent. – Why?
It isn’t just distribution, the “Why” question applies to all aspects of dragonfly natural history; this is the stuff that pHDs are made of. This page poses the Why question. Does it provide answers? Probably not. Just a lot more questions.
Sometimes I will end the page with a theory – you may think it rubbish. Let me know; let’s get the “Why” debate going, who knows where it might lead us.