Technotranscendence wrote:
>
>
> I would rather say it's not rational to destroy such diversity and life
> itself. No need to appeal to "Extropian."
>
> Also, commenting on the text Damien quotes (I don't have time now to find
> the original author), new species are not "popping" into existence all over
> the space of taxa. I don't see, e.g., a new species of bird which has
> popped into existence to replace the dodo or the moa or the carrier pigeon.
> Nor is one waiting in the wings -- at least, in anything shorter than
> geological terms -- to replace the California condor. (No pun intended.:)
What, exactly, does the Condor eat that other vultures cannot? There are no more
baby mammoths to chow on.
Species don't obviously, evolve in the blink of an eye to occupy an empty niche.
Typically one from a neighboring niche expands into it then begins to breed to
the optimum for that niche, unless being multi-niche capable is an evolutionary
advantage. As an example, I can bring up predators in New England. Cougars have
not been seen in New England for more than 100-150 years (or, for that matter,
anywhere north of Virginia). Wolves were also driven out in the 19th century,
and coyotes were on thin ice. Since the 60's though, first the coyote population
rebounded to take over predation jobs of all three, and interbred with stray
domesticated dogs to become a larger variant called the coy-dog to go after
larger game. The coydog is in size about halfway between a wolf and a coyote
(which are typically in about a 2:1 size ratio). Wolves have also returned,
coming across the St. Lawrence, apparently, on the ice in winter, and there are
also at least a half dozen good sightings of cougars (called catamounts in these
parts) each year.
At the same time, the pheasant and turkey populations have been moving north.
They were both originally not native as far north as I am now, in Wilder, VT and
Lebanon, NH, but now range as far as my cabin in upstate NH, where I've seen
coyotes going after wild turkey with much enthusiasm.
Now, most species are not the sole occupants of their niche in any environment.
They typically have competitors, or at least other species that can also occupy
that niche as well. However, there have been a number of new bird species
popping up, and bird experts are constantly debating if a subspecies has become
an indpendent species or not.
>
> Someone else remarked about how a lot of land in the Northeast has gone
> wild. This is true in many areas of New England. Yet, the ecosystems that
> existed before the land was tamed are, in most cases, not returning -- at
> least, not in toto. The carrier pigeon is gone and there are hardly any
> wolves south of Canada or East of the Mississippi.
Actually, the wolves are here, I've seen them with my own eyes, and I do know
the difference between coyotes, wolves, malamutes, german shepherds, etc. The
state wildlife offices, though, are preferring to call them 'large coydogs'
because they don't want to freak people out.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 02 2000 - 17:37:57 MDT