Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mlavin 2045 days ago
It's an easy qualitative decision to consider a variety of species with pleasant calls and plants which coexist in their own niches better than swarms of one single species of bird and an aggressively invasive plant species which chokes out all other growth. Knotweed in particular is an absolute pox on the landscape in North America.
1 comments
hutzlibu 2045 days ago
Ok, I don't know of the specific case, it is just, that here in germany, the "invasive" species people complain about, I wittnes as a welcome variation. Brings in more color. The areas that do get dominated, will very likely balance it out with a different species, soon.

edit: had to translate it, but: we also have knotweed and people complain, but I actually like it. And I do not see it dominating, just a spot here and there, just like nettles.

link
ericffr 2045 days ago
Not every weed moves as fast as a virus. It might take decades before we realize that some species have disappeared, and in their wake, others are going too, and we are left with a homogeneous ecosystem where a new virus will come and be even worse (like the wheat rust which decimated the single species of wheat growing in North America). Obviously, Nature, being random, might cause destruction on its own (like when plants appeared and the high level of oxygen they produced killed earlier species), but this happens on millions of years. And sure, nothing prevents "Nature" from killing humans too. We are not more precious than any other species, from the Nature point of view.
link
hutzlibu 2045 days ago
"we realize that some species have disappeared, and in their wake, others are going too, and we are left with a homogeneous ecosystem "

Species come and go all the time. Globalisation just made it a lot faster. So there will be imbalances and local system collapsing and temporary a dominating species etc., but alltogether the diversity of species will be increased, with fast global exchange. Because there are more candidates to fill a niche.

Local established ones still have a home bonus. Their DNA is adopted to the local climate and soil, unlike the invaders. They won't vanish anytime soon.

The thing really threatening diversity are monoculture fields with pesticides.

link