Parting Thoughts

For centuries, scientists and naturalists have documented the world’s biodiversity and studied the basic biology of organisms in the field. Increasingly, in addition to these two lines of research, scientists study ecological interactions of plants and animals in their natural environments, often incorporating field experiments. Species new to science are still discovered every day. Fieldwork is crucial. We use field observations to form scientific questions, make predictions, and test hypotheses as we strive to understand the natural world. Unfortunately, however, less emphasis and fewer resources are currently directed to fieldwork than in past decades. Instead, studies aimed at the molecular and cellular levels often receive the lion’s share of funding, while field studies are left with the dregs or left unfunded altogether. Field studies often require greater time investment and yield fewer publications as compared with other types of biological research, for example, some kinds of physiological studies conducted in a laboratory under controlled conditions. Number of publications and success in bringing in grant funds influence an academic’s ability to achieve tenure and promotion. The result is that field biologists sometimes find themselves at a disadvantage as compared with their colleagues in this regard.

But the fact is that fieldwork is as critical as ever, and perhaps even more so. With up to a million species threatened with extinction (United Nations 2019), we are running out of time needed to document and to understand the basic biology and ecological interactions of much of the world’s biodiversity. Human-caused habitat modification and destruction worsen the problem. The worlds pictured in many of the essays in this book have changed since the time the fieldwork was undertaken. In my case, Santa Cecilia, once a small Quechua village scattered along the Río Aguarico, is now a community of over 7500 residents and little forest remains nearby. Worldwide, natural areas are being converted to cattle pastures, agricultural croplands, and residential areas, all to satisfy the needs of one species—Homo sapiens. We are losing wild places and the animals that call those places home.

Through field studies, we can better understand the basic needs of animals and be in a stronger position to fight for protection of species and preservation of their habitats. We will always have a need for fieldwork. And we need more field biologists.