> At 9:22 AM -0400 5/27/04, Nick Zarlinga wrote:
> >A surprisingly simple question came up this morning. Have there been any
> >native species that have become endangered or threatened by the release
of
> >an introduced species, whether through the aquarium trade or otherwise?
>
>
> He, he, that's a good one! The only exotic species I can think of
> that has caused such drastic declines in other species in Homo
> sapiens... guess that makes me a tree hugging eco-nazi.
>
> Not fish, but I think that brown snake has done a number on the birds
> of several Pacific islands. I don't know whether the birds had
> already been decimated by exotic Homo sapiens or not. I think the
> ones in the Pacific (the Homo sapiens) are _especially_ exotic!
> Guess that makes me a racist :)
>
> Really I think this whole snakehead debacle is a lot of hype. One
> year's spawn in one small pond in Maryland does not an exotic
> invasion make. I don't think that there is any evidence that
> snakeheads are likely to persist in the degraded waterways that are
> so prevalent on this continent. Guess that makes me a right wing
> anti-environmentalist.
>
> Clearly, there are species that are adaptable enough to quickly
> populate even the most degraded systems: bighead carp, round goby,
> common carp. I no longer buy the company line that common carp are a
> scourge on native fishes. I think they are just adaptable
> opportunists that are able to take advantage of the degraded niches
> that native species can no longer tolerate. I'd like to hear about a
> healthy system into which carp were introduced where they were able
> to propagate prolifically and really outcompete natives for
> resources, or damage the system such that natives declined. I'm not
> saying exotics can't be bad, I'm just saying we need to make
> decisions based on actual facts rather than popular prejudice. I
> place responsibility for species decline where it is due: on poor
> stewardship by exotic Homo sapiens. There is no greater threat or
> culprit in this. Back to tree hugging I guess. :)
>
> --
> Mark
> Ohio
> USA
> <))><
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