Funny Thing About Conservation Issues.

[jdmidwest]

A tree boring beetle is being pushed to extinction because the tree it likes is disappearing.  Yet here in USA, we are fighting a tree boring beetle to save Ash trees from extinction.  Ironic.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43262254

Alot of articles popping up now about the invasive honey bee crowding out native pollinators.  The Europeans brought the honey bee over shortly after the Mayflower and its nature to swarm and repopulate quickly spread it thru the USA a long time ago.  Old journals dating to Lewis and Clark talk about the bee trees they encounter on the journey.  An old book I read talked about the bee trees along the rivers connected to the Missouri river as being rich in Honey Trees.  But now they are leaning toward them as being invasive.

Trout in Missouri are invasive, they compete with native fish for habitat.  But individuals dropped them off in streams back when the railroads connected thru to get them going and we have propagated them since.

Feral hogs have been a part of our history, then we came up with a fenced stock law.  Now, feral hogs are a problem again.

Ironic.

[Al Agnew]

I would argue that trout are non-native but not really invasive.  Their habitat requirements are narrow enough that they aren't likely to spread out of the places where they've been stocked and still survive.  We'll never know what, if any, native species suffered or went extinct due to the introduction of trout, because it was done so long ago that we didn't have any scientific data on species composition in the spring branches and short stretches of streams heavily influenced by spring flows.  We also probably will never know how stocking trout in the big spring branches (as well as altering the channels in these spring branches to give the trout more pools to hang out in) affected the wintering of bass and other native game fish.  But in the overall scheme of things it probably wasn't very significant.

But history is replete with huge blunders made in purposely or carelessly introducing non-native species.  Which is why biologists usually advise against it these days.  

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, Al Agnew said:

But history is replete with huge blunders made in purposely or carelessly introducing non-native species.  Which is why biologists usually advise against it these days. 

Advise against it?   Hell they are still doing it.   Creating them to boot !

[MOPanfisher]

13 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Advise against it?   Hell they are still doing it.   Creating them to boot !

Examples? Somebody had to ask.

Stripers, OK, wipers OK a hybrid but OK.  What else, just curious not trying to start a fight here.

[fishinwrench]

42 minutes ago, MOPanfisher said:

Examples? Somebody had to ask.

Stripers, OK, wipers OK a hybrid but OK.  What else, just curious not trying to start a fight here.

Is that not enough?   

[jdmidwest]

Restoring Elk. Otters. 

Hybrid crops that don't require pollination covering thousands of acres of native prairie hurts pollinators. 

[Quillback]

Heck, we the people are the invasive with the most impact.  

[BilletHead]

30 minutes ago, Quillback said:

Heck, we the people are the invasive with the most impact.  

         That right there is a true statement. Man is his own worst enemy. You and I included. 

BilletHead

[MOPanfisher]

1 hour ago, jdmidwest said:

Restoring Elk. Otters. 

Hybrid crops that don't require pollination covering thousands of acres of native prairie hurts pollinators. 

Neither elk nor otters are non native, although I agree that bringingg them back may not have been the best plan.  Otters can do a lot of damage, the elk are mostly a money pit, kind of cool but still a money pit.

 

1 hour ago, Quillback said:

Heck, we the people are the invasive with the most impact.  

I am sure that all critters would list humans as such.

[ness]

Well, as a guy who loves to trout fish and pheasant hunt, I'm not gonna gripe too much.