Re: Re-introduction of CP into natural habitats...

From: Wayne Forrester (forrestr@mendel.Berkeley.EDU)
Date: Fri Jul 11 1997 - 08:11:48 PDT


Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 08:11:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: Wayne Forrester <forrestr@mendel.Berkeley.EDU>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2612$foo@default>
Subject: Re: Re-introduction of CP into natural habitats...

Hi,

        I think reintroducing cp into a natural bog is a terrible idea.
In fact, I would go so far as to say it is foolhardy and irresponsible.
The damage done may be permanent and irreversible.
        I'll focus mainly on the question of introducing plants of a species
that may already be present in a bog, because the question of introducing
species not native to a particular habitat is clearly such a bad idea.
You can find hundreds, if not thousands of examples of introduced species
wreaking havoc with the native flora and fauna. The problem with introducing
members of a species into a site where they already occur is that
although the concept of a species is useful for categorizing plants, it
is in many ways an artificial division. A given member of a species may
be very different from others. In fact, like people, they are all
individuals. The plants growing in a particular bog may be quite unique,
even though they are members of the same species. If your introduced
plants out-compete the plants already there, then you have unwittingly and
unintentially decreased the genetic diversity (remember that argument on
this list several months ago?) of the species.
        I would argue that it is short-sighted and irresponsible to
introduce any plants or animals into an environment where they
don't occur, even if they are present in similar areas near-by. Although
there is nothing I can do to stop you from introducing these plants into
the bogs if you really want to, I would encourage you not to do it. Since
you asked the question, you are obviously interested in determining
whether there are any good reasons not to proceed. As you can see from
this rather rambling and not well composed post, I feel there are very
compelling reasons not to introduce them. If the state is really trying
to introduce venus flytraps into local bogs, they are acting
irresponsibly. If they succeed, who knows what sort of damage they will
cause.

Wayne Forrester
forrestr@mendel.berkeley.edu



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