November Discussion Post (Head to the Wild Times Forum!!) : How do we (and should we) perceive invasive species?
What's up brosteners??
It's time for this month's discussion post! For this post I've decided to get into a dicey topic related to invasive species. We're also changing things up a bit with responses: head over to the new Wild Times Forum (link below) to submit your thoughts on this topic!! We've posted a discussion post under the iNaturalist category where brosteners can discuss this topic, and feel free to chat with brosteners on all the other discussion threads while you're there!!
Always Wild,
Drew
Wild Times Forum: https://brommunity.wildtimes.club/t/november-discussion-post-how-do-we-and-should-we-perceive-invasive-species/104
Invasion ecology and invasive species management is arguably the hottest topic in conservation in the 21st century. Countless ecosystems across the world are currently overrun with non-native invaders that pose threats to native biodiversity, and a large portion of conservation efforts and dollars are spent on attempts to limit the spread of these invasive animals and plants. Such attempts often come in the form of culls or other efforts to exterminate these invasive populations, and with these culls come a lot of harsh feelings toward the invasives. We see that people often 'hate' an invader because of its impacts on native species and take great pleasure in killing it for the sake of conservation. A great irony exists here: many folks that pride themselves on loving wildlife will view invasive species very negatively and imprint malicious feelings on them even though these species are mostly introduced because of human activities and are only trying to survive in their new environment. With these ideas in mind, how do you think we should view invasive species? Are they some sort of evil entity or are they also victims of human impacts on wildlife? Feel free to bring in examples of invasive species that you can think of, and if you would prefer not to comment on this issue feel free to simply share an observation you have made of an invasive species.
