One situation I know of in which overcollection can be a serious
problem is for fossils.  Obviously, they're generally already extinct
species, but a unique locality or access to the locality can easily be
lost by overcollecting, particularly the sneak in with a backhoe-type
approach to collecting.  As a rule, it's commercial rather than
amateur approaches that do something like that, but I have heard of
several sites either no longer productive or permission now denied
after careless, excessive collecting.

Of course, anyone following a reasonable collecting ethic is not going
to do something like that, but it's the unreasonable folks that are
the problem.

--
Dr. David Campbell
4830 University Blvd E H4
Tuscaloosa AL 35404
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"

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