> the whole concept of “invasiveness” as a framework for understanding animals and their migration patterns is questionable at best. Among other things, it assumes that nature should exist in a state of stasis
So do we just let the zebra mussels go nuts, stop worrying about spotted lantern flies, European honey bees are cool now, was OSU wrong to create a breeding program for Lawson Cypresses?
Please read the article. This is about two species of owls, one considered invasive and is successfully outcompeting another native species in the PNW. This is contributing to the decline of the native species and therefore this cull is being proposed to turn the tides so to speak. I don’t think it’s framed the right way because it doesn’t really consider that if we do nothing the native species will likely head towards extinction but I do agree killing that many owls could be detrimental on top of the fact that the two species can be difficult to tell apart from a naked eye. It’s a pretty shitty situation overall.
If only we were proactive about this… but no US conservation is usually and almost always reactive and we are left with situations like this.
I’m pretty sure we definitely should kill invasive species
There’s also the underlying question of, even if we do reduce the population of competing invasive owls, we still have to deal with the fact that Spotted Owls won’t be able to recover if don’t preserve every last square foot of old growth forest we have left and allow more to grow.
As American as it gets. Shoot the problem and ignore the cause such as monoculture and destruction of their environment. Why stop human impact when we can blame a literal owl trying to survive for its species, invasive or not.
Hubris in the name of science and conservation.
Why are the Barred Owls considered invasive? They weren’t introduced to new territory by humans like the time some fisherman released an invasive fish (pike I think) from a lake back east into a lake in the Sierra Nevada. The owls have been naturally expanding their range. Even if it results in the extinction of the Spotted owl, which would be horrible, isn’t it a natural event?
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What is not wrong with these people?
Why not? -GoP
Article gets kinda dubious toward the end
> the whole concept of “invasiveness” as a framework for understanding animals and their migration patterns is questionable at best. Among other things, it assumes that nature should exist in a state of stasis
So do we just let the zebra mussels go nuts, stop worrying about spotted lantern flies, European honey bees are cool now, was OSU wrong to create a breeding program for Lawson Cypresses?
Please read the article. This is about two species of owls, one considered invasive and is successfully outcompeting another native species in the PNW. This is contributing to the decline of the native species and therefore this cull is being proposed to turn the tides so to speak. I don’t think it’s framed the right way because it doesn’t really consider that if we do nothing the native species will likely head towards extinction but I do agree killing that many owls could be detrimental on top of the fact that the two species can be difficult to tell apart from a naked eye. It’s a pretty shitty situation overall.
If only we were proactive about this… but no US conservation is usually and almost always reactive and we are left with situations like this.
I’m pretty sure we definitely should kill invasive species
There’s also the underlying question of, even if we do reduce the population of competing invasive owls, we still have to deal with the fact that Spotted Owls won’t be able to recover if don’t preserve every last square foot of old growth forest we have left and allow more to grow.
As American as it gets. Shoot the problem and ignore the cause such as monoculture and destruction of their environment. Why stop human impact when we can blame a literal owl trying to survive for its species, invasive or not.
Hubris in the name of science and conservation.
Why are the Barred Owls considered invasive? They weren’t introduced to new territory by humans like the time some fisherman released an invasive fish (pike I think) from a lake back east into a lake in the Sierra Nevada. The owls have been naturally expanding their range. Even if it results in the extinction of the Spotted owl, which would be horrible, isn’t it a natural event?
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