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Simberloff, D. Non-natives: 141 scientists object. Nature 475, 36 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/475036a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/475036a
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Lishan Ran
I very much agree with Simberloff's opinion. The pros and cons of introduced species must be evaluated separately on a case by case basis. For the benefit side, wheat is an excellent example as you have mentioned. While for the harms caused by invasive species, one example is the notorious Eucalyptus tree introduced to Southwest China from Australia in 1980s for timber purpose. Due to its fast-growing and high water consumption features, all native species would be eradicated in a few years. The tree has been nicknamed as 'despot tree', even recent extreme droughts in the region have been ascribed to the tree planting as it consumed large amount of water and thus decreased groundwater table.
Jean SmilingCoyote
Despite the cautions about non-native species, the attitude in this letter is still too tolerant of biological imperialism practiced by the colonizing nations, and retained after independence. Simberloff says "nobody tries to eradicate wheat, for instance." Yes, wheat is useful in North America as well as its place of origin. But in converting native ecosystems to wheat monoculture, farmers have destroyed huge areas of native grasslands, and nearly all the large mammals formerly at home there; some native grouse species are highly endangered because of habitat destruction by humans, not wheat directly. Humans used to eat all the native wild large herbivores and the grouses there. The large mammals of the grasslands have lost most of their habitat, though not extinct. North American wheat monoculture is involved with tremendous soil loss, including the Dust Bowl.
Andrei Alyokhin
Jean,
In my opinion, the term "biological imperialism" would apply to the action of 19th-century acclimatization societies. They indeed tried making newly colonized lands look more like "the Old Country." However, most non-native species were introduced either by accident, or because of their specific properties useful to humans (e.g., edible seeds). Colonizing nations also readily accepted economically beneficial native species, such as corn or potatoes, and moved them back to the home country.
I agree that monoculture creates considerable problems. However, these problems are not related to their native vs. non-native status. Corn is native to North America, but its monoculture is no better than a wheat monoculture in terms of environmental impact.