Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Scottish Broom, Rabbits and Developers
Scottish Broom, Rabbits and Developers
By Ian Lowden, M.Sc., B.A.
ian.lowden@shaw.ca
What do these three things have in common? Well they a were all introduced to the Island by people, they are all pernicious, and they all have the potential to greatly affecting our island ecology, they all tend to overwhelm earlier arrivals, they all seem to have nothing that can naturally control their population and to at least some they are all dangers to our island ecology. They all seem immune to any government action ‘no matter how peculiar our government system may be’, and like uncontrolled tourism and dwindling water tables they seem to be yet one more set of problems besetting the island.
There are those who like Scottish Broom, who feed the cute bunnies and encourage the developers. Not everyone sees them as a threat. They seem immune to government control and so controlling their population and activities falls to the individual and like-minded community groups. There are those who literally root out Scottish Broom, and there seems to be those who are attempting to control the rabbit population…lots of luck on that one…look at Australia. But what is being done about the infestation of developers?
Personally I think we may be able to curtail the activities of these three pests, but it is unlikely that we can ever rid the Island of them. They are all opportunist species in that they exploit an area where they have no natural enemies to control the population, thus they spread quickly.
Of these three ecological threats I am betting that the one that will have the most impact on our environment will be the ‘developers’ because the developers can blend into the background and perhaps what is worse – the developers can convince some people that they are a desirable thing. Some people also like the bright Scottish Broom or the cute little bunnies too, go figure.
By Ian Lowden, M.Sc., B.A.
ian.lowden@shaw.ca
What do these three things have in common? Well they a were all introduced to the Island by people, they are all pernicious, and they all have the potential to greatly affecting our island ecology, they all tend to overwhelm earlier arrivals, they all seem to have nothing that can naturally control their population and to at least some they are all dangers to our island ecology. They all seem immune to any government action ‘no matter how peculiar our government system may be’, and like uncontrolled tourism and dwindling water tables they seem to be yet one more set of problems besetting the island.
There are those who like Scottish Broom, who feed the cute bunnies and encourage the developers. Not everyone sees them as a threat. They seem immune to government control and so controlling their population and activities falls to the individual and like-minded community groups. There are those who literally root out Scottish Broom, and there seems to be those who are attempting to control the rabbit population…lots of luck on that one…look at Australia. But what is being done about the infestation of developers?
Personally I think we may be able to curtail the activities of these three pests, but it is unlikely that we can ever rid the Island of them. They are all opportunist species in that they exploit an area where they have no natural enemies to control the population, thus they spread quickly.
Of these three ecological threats I am betting that the one that will have the most impact on our environment will be the ‘developers’ because the developers can blend into the background and perhaps what is worse – the developers can convince some people that they are a desirable thing. Some people also like the bright Scottish Broom or the cute little bunnies too, go figure.
