7043

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7043
• Author: Desert Fishes Council ‎(Edwin Pister, e.
• Title: Proceedings of the Desert Fishes Council Volumes XVI-XVIII
• USFW Year: 1987.
• USFW - Doc Type: The Sixteenth - Eighteenth Annual Symposia.
• Copyright Material: NO

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happened in attempts to conserve certain of the desert pupfish,
rapid genetic change may occur. This, then, becomes a valuable
experiment in evolution. From my perspective, I would want to
see the behavior of the new population compared to that of the
source population. This situation is bound to recur. It is
another instance of the importance of desert waters as unique
experiments, in this case one occasioned by needless extinction.
The extinction of species is becoming, increasingly, a
political issue. Each of us will have different levels of
involvement, often emotional, sometimes practical. The forces of
progress rightfully question whether each and every species must
be conserved, particularly when such conservation stands in the
way of some development that is perceived as beneficial to
humans. After all, it is now clear that throughout time species
have been going extinct at a steady clip. Why worry about a few
now, here and there, merely because we are the agents?
The problem with such arguments is that species have not dust.
gone extinct through time. They have been replaced by other
species that are better adapted. When desert fishes go extinct
it is usually because of some severe perturbation of the
environment, sometimes its total destruction. No new life form
will come along to replace the fauna and flora of that body of
water. Even if the extinction is brought about by the
introduction of exotic species, there is still a net loss of a
unique form of life. In this respect, desert waters must be
among the most threatened environments in the world.
Having moved.to the global level, I would like to return to
the study of the behavior of desert fishes to say a few words