Are All Invasive Species Bad?

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Wow, you people are really clueless about ecology and wildlife biology. When non-native plants or animals replace native ones, it destroys the NATURAL biodiversity of that ecosystem or area. It doesn't help if the addition of non-natives makes the area more artificially diverse.
Ecosystems are usually very delicate. Introduction of non-native species is almost always harmful to ecosystems and native species, so removing the non-natives is a good thing. Stop worshiping your whiteness and get a clue: these islands were in far better shape before Europeans invaded them.

Jeff of CA 12:53PM November 17, 2012

You're gay .

Josh Junior. of MO 8:16AM October 02, 2012

Thankyou for killing our wildlife and making the world safer for mankind. I dont know what I would do knowing that deer and elk were living free on an island away from human habitation and civilization. There was no need for an impact study as there were no native species to be impacted. If eagles eat all the foxes it should surely cut down the eagle population to a safe level so that island visitors can bring their pets for a day hike.Since the foxes are gone there will be no impact on them from dogs, and human waste will be collected in portable latrines I am sure. It will be a nice form off income for the park service-until rodent infestations occur and cause the destruction of the ecosystem.

harrold of CA 8:21AM February 19, 2012

THE DOGMATIC THEOLOGY OF ENVIRONMENTALISM
The Conservancy on Catalina Island is currently engaged in killing all the raccoons on the island. They claim they are "nonnative". They've already killed all the pigs and goats, and have sterilized the few remaining buffalo
A few years ago, the Conservancy brought in professional hunters and more than 40 hunting dogs to track down non native pigs and goats. These dogs roamed over every square mile of the island. A few months later the foxes began to die of distemper. In all more than 90% of the cherished, and allegedly "native" Island Foxes died.
Soon after gaining total possession of the Channel Islands, the “Nature Conservancy” and the National Park Service began eradicating all the nonnative species on Santa Cruz Island - leaving only the Golden Eagle and Island Fox. With nothing else left to eat the eagles ate the foxes. To the horror of the Park Service, the fox populations were diminished by about 95% - from over 2000 in 1995, to fewer than 135 by 1999. Another “success story” courtesy of the myopic Green Police.
It’s interesting to note that the Island Fox populations flourished under the benign neglect of the former owners who ranched and ran a hunting club, but were nearly wiped out by the Environmentalist PhD’s. Ensconced in ideological hubris, I doubt the Park Service or Nature Conservancy even noted the irony.
I also observe that the National Park Service is currently wrapping up 2 years of cutting down hundreds of “nonnative trees” on Santa Cruz Island. It seems only “pre-Columbian” life is “natural” and “pure”, and worthy of protection.
On Santa Rosa Island the Park Service is killing all the deer, sheep, elk and goats - their "Final Solution" should be completed by Jan. 2012.
Surely these environmentalists must know that nearly all of the thousands of islands in the Pacific ocean are homes to hundreds of nonnative species? From South East Asia to Hawaii these islands are populated by nonnative plants and animals, all cohabitating in illicit harmony.
For thousands of years, all types of life were borne to these island shores by, floating logs, mats of kelp, the wind, waves, currents and the boats of men. Yes, men - men who are themselves a rightful part of “nature” - rather than something set apart from it.
By what “green ethic “ do these environmentalists decide what animals or plants rightfully belong in a place? As thousands of islands in the Pacific attest - nature adapts and is made richer and more diverse in the process. Didn’t the Island Fox come to California’s offshore islands by either floating trees or by the boats of men? And so, also perhaps the raccoon...
GOING GREEN HAS GONE TOTALLY MAD

R.L. Schaefer of CA 4:23PM September 25, 2011

No but Mankind is.

2its of CO 1:39AM September 21, 2011

I would hope that ecosystem functioning in a way to keep the ecosystem healthy, would trump biodiversity that is based on nativism. I think that one side of the debate in this articles conclusion presumes that biodiversity is just about native plants and animals. I think there are many now who look at biodiversity beyond nativism

fritzi cohen of WA 7:30PM September 07, 2011