NANFA-- Exotic Species make cover of Science

Jay DeLong (thirdwind_at_att.net)
Sat, 2 Oct 1999 09:07:58 -0700

Of interest to NANFA and ACN members and others. I photocopied the articles
mentioned below (9 pages), so if you're interested in reading them and don't
have access to that magazine, contact me off list with your mailing address.

Here's an excerpt from a section on biological control called "Fighting Fire
with Fire":

"Along with success stories, however, are an increasing number of cautionary
tales of biocontrol agents gone awry. For instance, for decades Los Angeles
County mosquito-control officials have handed out free bucketloads of small
insect-eating fish from the southeastern United States that researchers say
also has a devastating appetite for tadpoles. Despite warnings that it
should only be stocked into ponds, not free-running streams, in the last
decade the Gambusia minnow--'Damnboosia' to its detractors--somehow made its
way into once fishless streams in the Santa Monica Mountains, ecologists Lee
Kats and Jeff Goodsell of Pepperdine University in Los Angeles reported last
month in Conservation Biology. Now, the fish appears to be eating its way
through populations of increasingly rare Pacific tree frogs and two other
amphibians, just as it has displaced native fish and amphibians in New
Zealand and elsewhere. The government 'should not be handing out the fish
to anyone who asks,' says Kats.

Science, vol 285, 17 September 1999, p.1843.

Jay DeLong
thirdwind_at_attnet
Olympia, WA, USA

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin_Aitkin_at_fws.gov
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 1999 9:38 AM

There are a series of well done articles on "Biological Invaders" in a
recent issue of Science (17 September 1999, Volume 285, Number 5435). The
articles are titled: "Predicting Invasions: Biological Invaders Sweep In",
"Fighting Back: Stemming the Tide of Invading Species", and "Biological
Control: Fighting Fire with Fire".

/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org