A practical guide to evaluating scientific claims. Learn five simple questions that help cut through complexity and reveal what evidence really matters.
This post is much appreciated. I've been considering all these concepts over the last five years as a friend and I have been co-authoring a book together tentatively entitled, "Don't Blame the Messenger: A critique of the 'invasive plant' narrative." What we've found, as we've gone down peer-reviewed rabbit holes, is that A) the claims made in the media and by advocates regarding "invasive plants" are rarely based on rigorous science and that B) the field of invasion biology itself is lacking in rigor, although to its credit, there's increasing awareness of this in the field, and open discussion of it happening.
Thanks for the comment. I suspect that you right about the lack of rigour coming less from the messengers and more from perception of the message, not even the message itself. A book on this subject would be helpful.
Much of the invasive weed story here in Australia is driven by legislation that is reactive to the public pressure for a response and not from an ecological understanding of either cause or effect. So now we rip willows out from streambanks making them unstable… while in the paddock we can't cope with the serrated tussock.
This post is much appreciated. I've been considering all these concepts over the last five years as a friend and I have been co-authoring a book together tentatively entitled, "Don't Blame the Messenger: A critique of the 'invasive plant' narrative." What we've found, as we've gone down peer-reviewed rabbit holes, is that A) the claims made in the media and by advocates regarding "invasive plants" are rarely based on rigorous science and that B) the field of invasion biology itself is lacking in rigor, although to its credit, there's increasing awareness of this in the field, and open discussion of it happening.
Thanks for the comment. I suspect that you right about the lack of rigour coming less from the messengers and more from perception of the message, not even the message itself. A book on this subject would be helpful.
Much of the invasive weed story here in Australia is driven by legislation that is reactive to the public pressure for a response and not from an ecological understanding of either cause or effect. So now we rip willows out from streambanks making them unstable… while in the paddock we can't cope with the serrated tussock.