Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to You Don't Understand The Fundamental Principle Of Microbial Competition

As a side note
R.L. — (archived)

I read a study on Eurekalert.org that made the argument (backed up by studied examples) that in many (but obviously not all) cases, invasive non-native species do little or no harm to ecosystems... For instance, where I live is infested with the 'Jackson' (or horned) Chameleon... They are not native, but considered a pleasant oddity- to my knowledge no ecological threat is posed by these creatures. EVERY time i have intentionally searched for one in the branches of my house I have found one- usually an infant, so far always male (the male has 'horns') .

On a side note- here in Hawaii there is a huge demand for eradicating an invasive frog that came here about 10 years ago- the Coqui frog.

Some arguments have been made that the tiny frog hurts the native bird population- this may or not be true but I have not seen anything other than hypothetical arguments on this issue (Let me also add I havent researched this thouroughly)...

The DRIVING force for eradicating the frogs is a human one- they are LOUD! They can in their millions create a racket that drives people up the wall... (They dont live where I do now, so I can only repeat complaints that I have heard)...

Spraying has been done to eradicate them (apparently dilute lye kills them as well as Ascorbic acid Vitamin C)

But I would wager they are here to stay...

One invasive species that has Hawaii officials TERRIFIED is the brown tree snake- it has nearly WIPED OUT bird populations on other islands- so far it is believed it hasnt found its way here... but it probably will- a few years ago an asshole was caught trying to smuggle some in...

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