Nature Literature discussion

Please add your comments about The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature's Salvation here.

After reading this book, I would be curious about everyone's opinion on a native/exotic question I've been asking in my own life. Should I plant Korean chestnut trees in the woods because they would fill an ecological niche that has traditionally existed here with American chestnuts?

Almost all American chestnut trees die from the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica. This is true today as well. There are folks heroically trying to save the sub-species. But there is division in the ranks. Some argue we shouldn't plant hybrids, and many argue against wide-scale planting of other chestnut sub-species for fear that they might contaminate the purity of the American chestnut line. This, paraphrasing Pearce, is xenophobic nonsense. The hybridization of chestnut trees allows them to adapt to the fungal infection and stay fit so they can survive the evolutionary guantlet of the survival of the fittest. This is evolution at work. We would delay it at the peril to chestnut trees in North America.

What do you think?

I haven’t read this book yet, and I know little about chestnut trees (though my neighborhood has lost many trees to the ash bore). Your question is interesting. On the one hand, biological diversity has long been important to adaptation and survival. (When people talk about “purity,” I think of the dangers of inbreeding.) On the other hand, the introduction of new species often has unintended consequences, upsetting the balance of healthy ecosystems. You never know what else will be riding along with your new trees, or for that matter, what any domestic plant might pick up in transit.

It sounds like you’re doing a lot of investigation before making your decision.