Paper titles

Working on my literature review, it always brings a much needed smile to my face to really connect with an author through their title. Paper after paper of explicit, sometimes long-winded titles stating the subject, location and effect can get boring and repetitive, but one with a good hook really stays with you. I've collected a few over the past two quarters that I will share.

Berenbaum and Lekowsky. 1992. Life history strategies and population biology in science fiction films. Ecological Society of America. v 73(4) p 236-240.

Hey, I like sci-fi!

Cane et al. 2000. Sampling bees for pollinator community studies: pitfalls of pan-trapping. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. v 73(4) p 225-231.

Using one sampling method as a pun for the other. Nice one, Jim!

Logan and Powell. 2001. Ghost forests, global warming, and the mountain pine beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). American Entomologist. v 47(3) p 160-173.

This one only works after you read the paper. Ghost forests are exactly what we are going to be left with in the American West.

Roark. 1947. Some promising insecticidal plants. Scientific Monthly. v 64(117) p 437-445.

Mr. Roark, your brevity is hilariously unenthusiastic. I hope you kept it coming.

Stamp. 2003. Out of the quagmire of plant defense hypotheses. The Quarterly Review of Biology. v 78(1) p 23-55.

Ms. Stamp really captures the essence of frustratingly parsing through hypotheses and writing a literature review.

Trewavas. 1999. Much food, many problems. Nature. v 402 p 231-232.

This came out 2 years after Notorious B.I.G.'s hit "Mo Money Mo Problems" went to the top of the US Billboard.

Nentwig. 1993. SPIDER VENOMS ARE NOT SUITABLE INSECTICIDES. Toxicon. v 31(3) p 233-234.

I found this reference in all caps, and thought it came across with a tone of extreme importance and dire consequences that left me chuckling, especially because it's only 2 pages. OK Nentwig, OK!

Lavandero et al. 2006. Increasing floral diversity for selective enhancement of biological control agents: a double-edge sward? Basic and Applied Ecology. v 7 p 236-243.

This one is, and has been my favorite for a long time. Introduces conflict with a good pun involving popular grasses used in conservation plantings.

Phillips et al 20??. Smashing pumpkins: using floral strips and native bees to economically pollinate really, really good-looking Cucurbita pepo

...Needs work, but I've got a couple of years to come up a with a real zinger.