[APWG] Plants Alien Invasive Research Re: Completely disagree with--Why Invasive Plants Take Over

[Wayne Tyson]

Dear All:

When I attempted to download the referenced research via the link given in 
this email and followed the prompts for "update Adobe Air," the update 
failed and the "cancel" option on the "Adobe" dialog boxes did not work. I 
had to close all tabs to get out of it, and finally was able to remove the 
"Adobe Air" dialog boxes by right clicking on the symbols at the bottom of 
the screen and clicking "close." If anyone has been successful at 
downloading the pdf file, and would care to send it to me, perhaps I can 
read it and try to comment in as well-informed a way as possible.

Alternatively, if Dremann would care to list the specific points which he 
believes the "article" misses completely, and which particular "old myths 
about exotic plants" are involved, we might all benefit from his analysis. 
Additionally, if Dremann would briefly reiterate exactly why he believes (if 
he does) that the biology of invasive species is not part of the picture, 
that also would be helpful with moving this most important discussion 
forward.

While I suspect that I would agree with Dremann about the effects of 
European invaders, I wonder just how sowing seeds of indigenous species can 
re-establish pre-contact ecosystems and species abundance in the face of 
continued European invader influence (e.g. domestic stock foraging, 
trampling, etc.).

Craig: Do you believe that the paper intended to ignore or refute your 
points? What points did it make specifically that you found to be mythic?

WT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company" <Craig at astreet.com>
To: <apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 7:13 AM
Subject: [APWG] Completely disagree with--Why Invasive Plants Take Over


> Dear All,
>
> That news report, that repeats the old myths about exotic plants, and why
> they are so successful at
>
> http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090430.htm
>
> This article misses the point completely, that the main reason why exotic
> plants invade North America, is becuase we Europeans either truncated or
> catastrophically eliminated the perennial native grass and perennial forb
> understory across the entire continent, creating hundreds of millions of
> acres of empty niches and ecological vacancies to get filled.
>
> You can see what I am suggesting, very clearly by my 2,000+ mile
> Megatransect of the western States, at
> http://www.ecoseeds.com/megatransect.html and how potentially vulnerable
> our lands are to future exotic plant invasions that are yet to happen.
>
> When we quit blaming the exotic plants and their very minor role in being
> able to invade,  and start focusing on the historic ecosystem damage that
> we are directly responsible for, then we can start to get a clear picture
> of what is going on continent-wide, and what we need to do to get those
> native North American ecosystems back in shape.
>
> Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PCA's Alien Plant Working Group mailing list
> APWG at lists.plantconservation.org
> http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconservation.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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