EDITORIAL

When less is more

Biodiversity is seen as a 'good thing', but sometimes the concept is oversimplified. If genetic diversity and habitat diversity are forgotten, biodiversity becomes  simply a species count, where more must be better, irrespective of the role for those 'alien' or 'weedy' species which too readily insert themselves into communities. Naturally species-poor habitats are difficult to praise with a diminished criterion like this, but they form part of a diversity of habitats which we would not wish to lose.

I thank those who contributed to this issue, particularly Liz Platts, Dai Roberts, Georges Dussart, Tony Cook, Alex Ball, and Robert Cameron. I also apologize for the late despatch  of the previous Bulletin ,due in part to repeated breakdowns of the printer. Please send contributions for the next (August) issue to me by mid July. Contributions of articles, mini-reviews, and additions to news items from non-malacological journals will be especially welcome. I include those news items which I come across in the sources I use, but they are therefore only a selection of what is out there. Please keep articles and abstracts simple and succinct, avoiding or explaining specialist terms. Where appropriate, include a reference to a more detailed account, and an illustration. Note the changed address and email, and please make the content of emails clear in the header, or I may delete them unread as spam.

Bill Bailey

Dr S E R Bailey

Tel: 0161 275 3900,

Fax: 0161 275 3938

Email: bill...@manchester.ac.uk

Home: Tel: 0161 962 2573