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Don't Judge Species On Their Origins
Don't Judge Species On Their Origins
COMMENT
A forester engages in efforts to eradicate the velvet tree Miconia calvescens in Hawaii.
BIOLOGICAL BIAS
Management of introduced species such as (left to right) tamarisks, pheasants, honeysuckle and zebra mussels should be based on rational, not emotive reasons.
Ecologists have since discovered that tamarisks use water at a rate comparable to that
of their native counterparts8. And the plants
are now the preferred nesting habitat of the
endangered southwestern willow flycatcher
Empidonax traillii extimus.
Tamarisks, which survive under common
water-management regimes that destroy
native trees and shrubs, arguably have a
crucial role in the functioning of the humanmodified river-bank environment 9. Yet
between 2005 and 2009 alone, the US Congress authorized US$80 million to support
ongoing tamarisk control and eradication.
What, then, should replace the native
versus non-native species distinction as
a guiding principle in conservation and
restoration management?
1 5 4 | NAT U R E | VO L 4 7 4 | 9 J U N E 2 0 1 1
COMMENT