[APWG] Exotic Invasive Plants = Cancer?
SteveYoung at aol.com
SteveYoung at aol.com
Mon Aug 16 18:36:05 CDT 2004
Craig, your comment about invasives and cancer and looking for points of
weakness reminds me of a fantasy I had recently.
We believe one of the reasons for the invasiveness of exotics is that there
tend not to be insect pests and diseases in their new locales that feed on or
sicken them. So I was fantasizing about a safe spray that could be used on an
invasive plant that would make it "smell or taste" like a yummy native, so
that herbivory would be encouraged. Better yet, if the same spray were also
detrimental to an exotic insect pest, that would be a great twofer.
I know you aren't keen on spraying, but I think there may be some reason for
optimism that as more is learned about the exact molecular-level mechanisms
at work, very carefully targeted and safe mimic compounds could be found.
OK, end of fantasy. Cheers,
Steve
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20040816/c9beaa92/attachment.html>
More information about the APWG
mailing list