[APWG] NEWS: Conservation Strategies Must Shift with Global Environmental Change

[Bill Stringer]

At 11:41 AM 2/1/2008, Bob Beyfuss wrote:
>This is the best article I have ever seen cited on this list serve. People
>need to wake up the the fact that virtually every ecosystem on this planet
>is now dramatically different than it was even 50 years ago due to human
>activity on a global scale.

>Efforts to "restore" ecosystems that have been
>altered by irreversible global changes, such as doubling the carbon dioxide
>levels in the atmosphere and rising temperatures, are a huge waste of money
>and resources. Invasive plants are just one of the many symptoms of these
>changes -

>Invasive plants are clearly a symptom of our willingness to import 
>exotic organisms.
>I'm not so sure of the link between invasive plants and global 
>climate changes.

There's anthropogenic greenhouse gas increases, and then there's 
introduction of
<http://www.cogongrass.org/>cogongrass , 
<http://www.nps.gov/ALIEN/fact/tama1.htm>saltcedar , and numerous 
other examples.  These are different problems,
and should not be lumped together under "huge waste of money and resources" .


>yet we declare "war" on alien, exotic, species that "menace" us as
>though killing off these plants will somehow solve the problem.

Which problem, Bob, the Great Greenhouse, or Exotic invasive plants that are
documented to be destroying native ecosystems, and throwing  the 
bio-geo-chemistry
out of whack.


Tell that to American chesnut, and hemlocks.

Thanx

Bill Stringer


>At 10:06 AM 2/1/2008, Olivia Kwong wrote:
> >http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080131101747.htm
> >
> >Conservation Strategies Must Shift With Global Environmental Change,
> >Ecologists Urge
> >
> >ScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2008) . Traditional ecosystems in which communities
> >of plants and animals have co-evolved and are interdependent are
> >increasingly rare, due to human-induced ecosystem changes. As a result,
> >historical assessments of ecosystem health are often inaccurate.
> >Scientists are now suggesting that efforts should focus less on restoring
> >ecosystems to their original state and more on sustaining new, healthy
> >ecosystems that are resilient to further environmental change. Accepting
> >some permanent changes may increase health of ecosystems.
> >
> >See the link above for the full article text.
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >PCA's Alien Plant Working Group mailing list
> >APWG at lists.plantconservation.org
> >http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plan 
> tconservation.org
> >
> >Disclaimer
> >Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the
> >opinion of the individual posting the message.
>
>
>
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>Disclaimer
>Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY 
>the opinion of the individual posting the message.

Bill Stringer
Editor, Journal of the SC Native Plant Society
PO Box 491
Norris, SC 29667

864 656 3527

www.scnps.org
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