"However, anyone who is fond of birds, small mammals, and deer owes a debt of gratitude to the tumbleweed, which provides sustenance for many such animals. Among the desert dwellers who eat tumbleweed seeds, foliage, and stems are Gambel's quail, ground squirrels, pocket and white-footed mice, prairie dogs, kangaroo rats, and mule deer. "
"The main reason the tumbleweed survived is agriculture. In the American mid-west, the tall
prairie grasses would have made it impossible for the tumbleweed to roll any distance. As time
passed, the grasses were replaced by ploughed fields. "
Well, now we sure the killer fungi will be the right solution we've been waiting for.
This method of fighting one invasive species by introducing a new species always makes me worry a bit. I can't comment on this particular case but I would like to point out that there are sometimes ways of eliminating a species without risk of spreading another species. One that I can think of is the sterile insect technique. [0] Overwhelming number of insects that have been rendered sterile by irradiation are released into the wild. They compete with fertile wild insects during the mating season. Release enough sterile insects and the population will be decimated.
I can see how it could be worrysome. Playing around with a food network could result in unintended consequences. A couple of searches:
"Glomerella cingulata (sexual version of the fungi they want to spread) (...) causes disease on many different hosts including quince and apple..." [2]
"The United States is the second-leading producer (of apples), with more than 6% of world production. " [3]
[+] [-] trhway|11 years ago|reply
http://www.discoverseaz.com/Wildlife/Tumbleweed.html
"However, anyone who is fond of birds, small mammals, and deer owes a debt of gratitude to the tumbleweed, which provides sustenance for many such animals. Among the desert dwellers who eat tumbleweed seeds, foliage, and stems are Gambel's quail, ground squirrels, pocket and white-footed mice, prairie dogs, kangaroo rats, and mule deer. "
and
http://cals.arizona.edu/mohave/master_gardeners/kingman/arti...
"The main reason the tumbleweed survived is agriculture. In the American mid-west, the tall prairie grasses would have made it impossible for the tumbleweed to roll any distance. As time passed, the grasses were replaced by ploughed fields. "
Well, now we sure the killer fungi will be the right solution we've been waiting for.
[+] [-] jevinskie|11 years ago|reply
[0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique
[+] [-] Terr_|11 years ago|reply
Reminds me of an old 1998 Simpsons episode:
SKINNER: Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.
LISA: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?
SKINNER: No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.
LISA: But aren't the snakes even worse?
SKINNER: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
LISA: But then we're stuck with gorillas!
SKINNER: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
[+] [-] vinchuco|11 years ago|reply
"Glomerella cingulata (sexual version of the fungi they want to spread) (...) causes disease on many different hosts including quince and apple..." [2]
"The United States is the second-leading producer (of apples), with more than 6% of world production. " [3]
Link to article [1]
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomerella_cingulata
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple
[1] http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10526-011-9399-x#p...
[+] [-] Angostura|11 years ago|reply
I can't see why, the introduction of the Cane Toad into Australia worked just fine.
[+] [-] zenjzen|11 years ago|reply
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