A whole new take on invasive aliens !!

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duane
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A whole new take on invasive aliens !!

Post by duane » Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:51 pm

Welcome weeds: How alien invasion could save the Earth
20 January 2011 by Garry Hamilton


Aliens to the rescue / Garry Hamilton

New Scientist No. 2795 January 2011: 34-37

Invasive species get a bad press, but could they be our last line of defence against ecological destruction? Far from ravaging threatened ecosystems, non-native species could be powerful allies in the fight to save them. A small but growing number of researchers think much of what we have been told about non- native species is wrong. Aliens, they argue, are rarely as monstrous a threat as they have been painted. In fact, in a world that has been dramatically altered by human activity, many could be important allies in rebuilding healthy ecosystems. Given the chance, alien species may just save us from the worst consequences of our own destructive actions.

Taken from http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... ?full=true

WHEN Ariel Lugo takes visitors to the rainforests of Puerto Rico, he likes to play a little trick. First the veteran forest ecologist shows off the beautiful surroundings: the diversity of plant life on the forest floor; the densely packed trees merging into a canopy high overhead; the birds whose calls fill the lush habitat with sound. Only when his audience is suitably impressed does he reveal that they are actually in the midst of what many conservationists would dismiss as weeds - a ragtag collection of non-native species growing uncontrolled on land once used for agriculture.

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duane
Posts: 1161
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:44 pm
Location: Central Coast, NSW
Contact:

Re: A whole new take on invasive aliens !!

Post by duane » Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:06 am

See latest post under"Controlling Weeds" under the General Info on NSF blog.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=241&p=3652#p3652

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