Date: Thu, 02 Jan 97 11:52 EST From: "Michael.Chamberland" <23274MJC@MSU.EDU> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg13$foo@default> Subject: Re: Invading exotics
> From: "Demetrio Lamzaki" <Dee_Lamzaki@msn.com>
>
> >You are _so_ right!
> >Rice eels to zebra mussels, etc. One just has to sit down and
> >think and one can come up with invader species.
>
> So true! It's such an easy thing to do that the numbers soon
> overwhelm you. Philip's post was a real eye-opener. It's
> incredible what just a few individual members of a species
> can do when given the opportunity, maybe if we told them
> their parent stock was not genetically diverse enough when
> it was released into the wild we can convince them to stop
> dominating the landscape! :-)
Again, I believe it is erroneous to suggest that the reintroduction of
plants to wild habitat will proceed with the "ease" of introduction of
certain invading exotics. If it were so easy, why have not the
endangered Hawaiian plants been easily "reintroduced" to again
"dominate the landscape"? I think the exotic species problem shows
that ecosystems are indeed difficult to manage, and we cannot expect
introductions to proceed so simply when they are by are by our
design.
I also think it is not productive to argue in this way about the minimum level
of genetic diversity needed for successful reintroduction. A conservation
program is designed to MAXIMIZE the available genetic diversity for
reintroduction.
Michael Chamberland
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