Putting together our presentation on population was very insightful. Admittedly, I narrow-mindedly thought that population involved humans only. It was not until other group members began suggesting animal and other populations for parts of our presentation that I realized the flaws in my thinking. If you polled the class however, I doubt I was the only one who thought that way. Our anthropocentric nature is to consider ourselves first. Very seldom do we consider populations of plants and animals before our own.
Looking into the zebra mussel population raised interesting ethical dilemmas for me. Even after listening to the discussion points brought up by the small groups, I still am unsure as to where I stand on the issue. Yes it is hard to give the zebra mussels rights. After all, they are only zebra mussels. But it was because of human intervention that they are here in the first place! They are not intentionally choking out native species and causing recreational nightmares. They are doing what they do best, living! Jessey pointed out that the human population could be considered invasive and that seems to illustrate that it is not our position to determine how the zebra mussel population should be controlled. It is likely social ecologists would relegate our interventions. Their understanding of our domination over other species would likely be considered when determining how to appropriately control the zebra mussels population.
It is obvious that the zebra mussel population cannot be controlled by predators here (in the United States). My suggestion is very anthropocentric. I think the policy and regulations are moving in the right direction. Referring to the National Invasive Species Act of 1996, invasive species do need to be carefully tracked and monitored.
I too looked at the narrow minded side of populations as humans only. As for the Zebra muscles I hold a similar view as you. These muscles should be tracked and monitored, because of all the damage they are doing. Great job on today's presentation.
ReplyDeleteI think the Endangered Species act is a step int eh right direction but ultimately that it is poorly implemented. The result of this act did help to stop the problem from occurring again, but as the map you showed of zebra mussel infestations clearly shows, it did not stop the spread. Ultimately the only thing being done to stop the spread is periodic checks at certain boat landings and signs that warn "good samaritans" of the danger their boat poses to the lakes in the area. Most people, however, don't care and don't check and the problem thus gets worse. Until there is a conservation officer/worker at each boat landing on infected lakes, the problem will likely get worse. For example, the silver carp (the fish that jump out of the water as a boat goes by) are slowly overrunning the Mississippi River. When they were small they weren't a problem but now that they are big, they cause big problem for people boating on the rivers when a large carp smacks you in the face while you are speeding down river. As far as I know there is no clear strategy for getting rid of these pests and until a market is found for the fish, or their populations are controlled somehow, the problem will continue to get worse. After all, I doubt they would be a problem if someone could get rich selling them in grocery stores. Ultimately, policies are only going to take us so far, there needs to be more action taken if we are going to stop these pests from destroying aquatic ecosystems.
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