 |
Re: [RC] weed free - Truman PrevattThis old earth has undergone many changes over time. We had reptiles roaming freely at one point as the earth was very warm. Then we had an ice age and the reptiles died off because it was too cold. The plant and animal life is very dependent on the climate. Climate change can come about for a lot of reasons. A small change on the order of 1 in a million in the eccentricity of the earth's orbit around the sun can cause several degrees of temp change on the earth's surface. That has happened in the past and will probably do so again in the future. That will impact frost lines, rain fall etc. The plant and animal life will change under the changes.If the local climate changes so a "weed" is more fit to a local climate and a "native plant" is less fit, the weed will thrive and the "native" won't. Humans have a very short view of time. We declare "native" something that has been around for what 100 years. That's a drop in the bucket - and it may just be this "native" fought it's way as an "invasive" plant a 1000 years ago. Of course there weren't people a 1000 years ago to catalog some plants as "native" and others as "invasive." That is not to say that some care should not be given to the local ecology. But at the end of the day our chance of stopping a plant that has "invaded" an area because it's climate is now very favorable to its spread and growth - is like trying to stop the tide. All systems will reach equilibrium based on the forces acting on it - be it a physical system, a chemical system or a biological system. Truman Alison Farrin wrote: Yes, but who decided this was WRONG? Who decided what is NATIVE? An active ecosystem is always in a state of change and evolution is the process of stronger species pushing out weaker ones. Just because humans are one of the agents that cause such change, it does not mean that we should try to put our world in stasis. Bio diversity ebbs and flows and no one has yet determined that increased bio diversity is always the best end. A weed is only a weed because humans call it one. -- “Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience.” Albert Einstein =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|