INVESTIGADORES
HIERRO jose luis
artículos
Título:
Non-natives: 141 scientists object
Autor/es:
SIMBERLOFF DANIEL; JAKE ALEXANDER; FRED ALLENDORF; JAMES ARONSON; PEDRO M. ANTUNES; SVEN BACHER; RICHARD BARDGETT; SANDRO BERTOLINO; MELANIE BISHOP; TIM M. BLACKBURN; APRIL BLAKESLEE; DANA BLUMENTHAL; ALEJANDRO BORTOLUS; RALF BUCKLEY; YVONNE BUCKLEY; JEB BYERS; RAGAN M. CALLAWAY; FAITH CAMPBELL; KARL CAMPBELL; MARNIE CAMPBELL; JAMES T. CARLTON; PHILLIP CASSEY; JANE CATFORD; LAURA CELESTI-GRAPOW; JOHN CHAPMAN; PAUL CLARK; ANDRE CLEWELL; JOÃO CANNING CLODE; ANDREW CHANG; MILAN CHYTRÝ; MICK CLOUT; ANDREW COHEN; PHIL COWAN; ROBERT H. COWIE; ALYCIA W. CRALL; JEFF CROOKS; MARTY DEVENEY; KINGSLEY DIXON; FRED C. DOBBS; DAVID CAMERON DUFFY; RICHARD DUNCAN; PAUL R. EHRLICH; LUCIUS ELDREDGE; NEAL EVENHUIS; KURT D. FAUSCH; HEIKE FELDHAAR; JENNIFER FIRN; AMY FOWLER; BELLA GALIL; EMILI GARCIA-BERTHOU; JONATHAN GELLER; PIERO GENOVESI; ESTHER GERBER; FRANCESCA GHERARDI; STEPHAN GOLLASCH; DORIA GORDON; JIM GRAHAM; PAUL GRIBBEN; BLAINE GRIFFEN; EDWIN D. GROSHOLZ; CHAD HEWITT; JOSÉ L. HIERRO; ET AL.
Revista:
NATURE
Editorial:
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
Referencias:
Año: 2011 p. 36 - 36
ISSN:
0028-0836
Resumen:
We the undersigned feel that
in advocating a change in the
environmental management
of introduced species (Nature
474, 153154; 2011), Mark
Davis and colleagues assail two
straw men.
First, most conservation
biologists and ecologists
do not oppose non-native
species per se only those
targeted by the Convention
on Biological Diversity as
threatening ecosystems,
habitats or species. There
is no campaign against all
introductions: scarcity of
resources forces managers
to prioritize according to the
impact of troublesome species,
as in the Australian Weed Risk
Assessment.
Second, invasion biologists
and managers do not ignore the
benefits of introduced species.
They recognize that many nonnative
species curtail erosion
and provide food, timber and
other services. Nobody tries to
eradicate wheat, for instance.
Useful non-native species may
sometimes still need to be
managed because they have a
negative impact, such as tree
invasions that cause water loss in
the South African fynbos.
Davis and colleagues
downplay the severe impact of
non-native species that may not
manifest for decades after their
introduction as occurred
with the Brazilian pepper shrub
(Schinus terebinthifolius) in
Florida (J. J. Ewel in Ecology of
Biological Invasions of North
America and Hawaii (eds
H. A. Mooney and J. A. Drake)
214230; Springer, 1986). Also,
some species may have only a
subtle immediate impact but
affect entire ecosystems, for
example through their effect
on soils.
Pronouncing a newly
introduced species as harmless
can lead to bad decisions about
its management. A species added
to a plant community that has no
evolutionary experience of that
organism should be carefully
watched.
For some introductions,
eradication is possible. For
example, 27 invasive species
have been eradicated from the
Galapagos Islands, mitigating
severe adverse effects on
endemic species. Harmful
invasive species have been
successfully kept in check
by biological, chemical and
mechanical means.
The public must be vigilant
of introductions and continue
to support the many successful
management efforts.