[APWG] FW: Science or unfounded rumor?

[Wayne Tyson]

Re: "Wayne, your text quotes from an observation in the CA Native Plant Society newsletter.  Nothing more.  Next step would be designing a study, yes?  Maybe someone did in the last 21 years." 

My point was that the author (not given) made some unequivocal statements, implying that there was a sound foundation to support them. That would imply that a study had been done at that time. I agree that (additional) studies would be in order to confirm or refute the conclusions mentioned. I would even be willing to provisionally accept such statements if they were based on casual observations and the author cited that as a foundation for the conclusions. The text was not my observation, it was a direct quote. That's not "nothing more," it's misleading to others (some will believe it; others will reject it as hearsay, but that is what journals are supposed to avoid) reading the statement and reflects upon the credibility of the journal. If CNPS made an error in publishing such profound pronouncements, I would hope that they would acknowledge it and print a correction along with the original as part of their responsibility to minimize disinformation propagation from invading and persisting on the Internet. When authors' names are not given, especially for such absolute statements, I can only presume that the editor of the journal is responsible. If there have been studies done, I would like to know about them--hence the post. I'm looking to APWG to resolve the question, not to bury it. I am making no judgment on the content of the quote because no conclusion is possible without knowing the basis for the statements. 

WT

PS: The University of California's "Weed Identification Handbook" lists several plants native to the state as "noxious weeds" because they "invade" croplands and "rangelands," and other "managed" lands. In "unmanaged" lands they are part of an integrated system of organisms that evolved without management. 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Scott Lenharth 
  To: apwg at lists.plantconservation.org 
  Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 7:39 PM
  Subject: Re: [APWG] FW: Science or unfounded rumor?


  On the contrary, native plants are labeled and managed as invasives when their colonization disrupts a given ecosystem.  Examples include the various species of juniper here in the midwest and south.  At the same time, many human-introduced plants are routinely ignored in land management since they pose no threat to the target habitat.  Certain species of Daucus fit this.

  There is a very real economic threat posed by invasives, especially in the rangelands and farms of the western two-thirds of the country.  We're busy killing sericea (Lespedeza cuneata) this week NOT because we're xenophobes or blindly following some imposed order from Albany, but because it readily invades prairies and pastures - decreasing native species and rendering the fields unfit for grazing.

  And yes, there are many factors involved in the changing plant composition in world ecoregions.  Is that news to anyone?

  (Wayne, your text quotes from an observation in the CA Native Plant Society newsletter.  Nothing more.  Next step would be designing a study, yes?  Maybe someone did in the last 21 years.)


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