Little Bog of Horrors

[Epiphile]

I think that this post opens up a whole lot of really big questions (and a corresponding can of worms)... johnblagg's post got me thinking about that aspect of the situation- that these species may be facing severe habitat loss in their native habitat. Still, though, at what point do we have the right to force them into territory where they would most likely not ever have made it to on their own? Are these few species worth any potential disruptions to their new home? Would letting them become extinct be the more viable alternative?

I don't know that I have any solid opinions at this point, but it's certainly an interesting subject.

Oh, and great pictures, Ron, regardless. They're beautiful plants, to be be sure.

[stefpix]

I believe it is unrealistic to completely stop migrations.

even a botanical garden could spread foreign seeds elsewhere.
invasive species make it in the news way more than other exotic species that adapt without being invasive.

Ivy comes from Europe and actually in the NE USA does nit thrive as well as in the native continent...

That bog looks beautiful and those are not weeds

[Epiphile]

Oh, I'd say it's definitely unrealistic to think that we can stop species from migrating. And I think that a lot of the variety we see in the object of our affections here at the OB is due to, if not migration, exactly, then at least adaptations to particular habitats. And of course this sort of thing has been going on long before we showed up...

I doubt that any species that finds it's way into a new system can integrate without affecting other species in some way, for better or for worse (whatever those terms mean in ecology)- the webs are just too tightly woven for that, as far as I know, and there are so many factors of it's impact to consider that I don't think it'd ever be benign.

[Connie Star]

Many species have spread without human intervention- plants floating from one island to another, birds dropping seeds.
But humans are the most invasive species of all!

[stefpix]

thats what i meant. and rats as well. and how many thousands of hectares of forest have been lost to wheat? probably wheat is the most invasive weed of all...

[Epiphile]

I believe I'd read a while back in a National Geographic that soybean crops has supplanted cattle pasture as Brasil's largest cause of deforestation. Perhaps it's almost more ethical now to eat beef than tofu...