Facts of the Matter
Facts of the Matter
Island ecosystem
needs protectionMore and more lately we are hearing about foreign invaders to our islands, but not the human kind. Iguanas, brown tree snakes, ear-splitting coqui frogs, invasive miconia plants and feral parrots have all been in the news in recent months.
There seems to be at best passive apathy, at worst active indifference about the introduction of plants and animals into the state. Much of this stems from a lack of understanding of why the importation of alien plants and animals presents such a threat to the island ecosystem. Hawaii has laws about importation of plants and animals, but many people don't take them seriously and manage to bring them into the state anyway. Some introductions are accidental and many of them are unavoidable, but they all have the potential to be disastrous.
When we bring alien species into an ecosystem, they may take over niches that endemic species of birds, flowers, trees and fish had occupied. They also might change the ecosystem enough to indirectly force out native species by bringing with them diseases to which the natives have no immunity, or by destroying predators that eat insects that can ravage existing plants. Especially on islands, where species have evolved in isolation and have not dealt with adapting to newcomers, the original inhabitants may be unable to adapt and survive.
Every new species that finds its way into our fragile ecosystem puts an unknown number of existing species at risk.
The extent of public ignorance regarding the deleterious effects of alien species is highlighted by remarks of Puerto Rican politician Kenneth McClintocks upon hearing of Hawaii's coqui frog dilemma: "The Puerto Rican coqui, far from being a headache, is a melodic blessing." Or Carlos Vizcarrondo, speaker of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives, who said, "For me the coqui is a symbol of my nation, of my Puerto Rican homeland, and if the coqui is in a situation of danger outside Puerto Rico, I, as a Puerto Rican, feel the obligation to do what I can to save the coqui and bring it back to our native soil." This is not an uncommon attitude and shows an inexcusable ignorance of ecology and environmental issues.
They, and others who belittle the concern over introduced plants and animals, miss the point. It is not whether the frog's nighttime serenades are melodious or whether lizards, alligators, iguanas, snakes, or parrots make good pets that is the concern. It is the potential damage that they might wreak on the local ecosystems. It is not that we would wish for the extinction of the little froggy serenade, although at 3 in the morning, there might be some who would disagree. That kind of annoyance notwithstanding, allowing flocks of parrots to breed unabated in the rain forest or releasing reptiles and small mammals when we tire of them as pets is just plain irresponsible.
MORE THAN A THIRD of the species on the U.S. endangered-species list are unique to Hawaii, making this the endangered-species capital of the world. Many more are at risk, although not yet "officially" suffering endangered status. Most of the endangered species are ones that most of us have never heard of, but their anonymity does not make the prospect of their passing any less notable or less serious. Today it might be the Oahu tree snail that few will miss. Tomorrow it could be the nene, the Hawaiian stilt, the green sea turtle, the crested honeycreeper, the thrush or any of the other more than 300 species unique to Hawaii.
Certainly, a balance must be struck between progress and the environment. The modern world, with international shipping and passenger travel, makes a certain amount of accidental introductions inevitable. But there will be enough species disappearing without the careless and thoughtless introduction of forbidden animals as pets or the release of cats, dogs or birds into the wild.
The strength and health of any ecosystem is its diversity. A healthy ecosystem is a stable ecosystem. The concern here is for the health of the island ecosystem in its entirety, not merely that part of it that is pleasant to the eyes or ears.
The ever-accelerating extinction of species is by and large an unintended byproduct of the way people have chosen to live. We have been very successful in learning to alter our environment and increase the human population, and there will no doubt be more than enough concomitant extinctions if we continue the traditionally unsustainable activities that improve the quality of our own lives at the expense of the environment that supports us. There are no indications that we will do otherwise in the near future.
There are a number of Web sites with information concerning the problem of introduced species and species extinction. I would be glad to furnish a list to anyone who is interested.
We could all be a little smarter, no? Richard Brill picks up
where your high school science teacher left off. He is a professor of science
at Honolulu Community College, where he teaches earth and physical
science and investigates life and the universe.
He can be contacted by e-mail at rickb@hcc.hawaii.edu