Comments on: Graham Bell- Climate Change and Evolution of Ecosystems and Species

By: supernova

supernova — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:55:13 +0000

Pesticide-resistant reeds is one one face the medal. Very few pestcides used to control invasive species are specie-specific which means that the pesticide will also affect non-invasive species. Futhermore, that chemical also might have unknown effect on the fauna which feed on the plants. Since controling that invasive species is already very difficult (the complexe rizome system makes it impossible to burn or to manually remove those damned things, as for multiple technics, the plant seems to be well adapted with a fastgrowth-fastrecovery developpement), rises in CO2 is even more alarming since it would probably provide an evolutive advantage to that specie. We know that wetland (which are now being invaded be the reed) are a source of inimagibly rich biodiversity and also provide ecological services (water filtration, erosion prevention, carbon sequestration). Knowing that, i have a hard time banning the use of herbicide even though it is not the best solution. I think it should be used as a transitorial solution until we find a better one. But i believe that if nothing is done to stop the progression of that plant, there wont be anything to save whence we get to that solution.

By: sieber

sieber — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:38:04 +0000

And in the short term we have to worry about the environmental damage from the spraying we have to do on increasingly pesticide-resistant reeds.

By: guesswho

guesswho — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:53:05 +0000

It seems that the conference was pretty interesting ! Speaking about the way alien species deal with climate change, here is a little example. In an article I just read, it mentions that biologists are expecting the common reed to become an even stronger invader than it already is, because the specie has a good response to increases in CO2 concentrations. Common reed is already a strong invader, present in almost all biomes and continents (except Antarctica !). Moreover, it is super difficult to control this species. One of the only thing that could possibly work is to use herbicides. But the operation needs to be repeated each three years! So, imagine for a moment what it could be if CO2 concentrations reach 750 ppm …