Michael, that's not it. The discussion here is the notion that there are
unused niches, or even that there are a finite number of definable niches.
Niches are defined by individual species and not the environment. For that
reason they can't be management tools. Science does a reasonable job of
trying to identify the concept of a niche, but there's not even one plant
or animal that has a niche that can be completely defined. For example,
part of a species' niche is its biological interactions-- prey, predators
and competitors-- and how can that be described or quantified? Taking the
concept of a niche to the next step-- that a given area has x number of
potential or unfilled niches, and that individual species are plug-and-play
management units outside of the system where they evolved-- has had
disastrous results again and again.
-- Jay DeLong Olympia, WA /----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org </x-flowed>