[peter_vukovic]

> Any living creature would fit that definition of "civilization"

It would not. I said civilization "extracts resources, generates waste and disrupts ecosystems". A sponge does not disrupt its ecosystem. In fact, it keeps it alive.

> Non-native species often disrupt ecosystems when introduced somewhere new.

And how does this happen exactly? Non-native species do not just walk around - you need humans and civilization to move them around, and create exactly these kinds of issues.