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Well, there's quite a few examples of invasive species that have constituted significant threats to human, animal or plant health, for instance. Like malaria, t

Well, there's quite a few examples of invasive species that have constituted significant threats to human, animal or plant health, for instance. Like malaria, the bubonic plague, minor nuisances like that. For some examples from more recent times, the US timber industry has spent tens of millions of dollars fighting the Asian long-horned beetle, the citrus industry has an extensive quarantine program in place fighting Asian Citrus Psyllid, invasive varroa mite are part of the reason for the strong decline in honeybee populations, etc. Now you may say, "but I'm not importing mosquitos, just seeds", but really with Chinese seed suppliers with unknown QA and no knowledge of the ecosystem in your region, you run a real risk of introducing fungi, bacteria, insects etc. that can spread and do serious damage. Do us all a favour and buy seeds in your own country, where at least some QA and vetting for big risk factors has been performed.

roel_v 10y ago
Diseases are just that, diseases, not invasive or not. 'Invasive' is about competition, not direct attack. Goes for all your examples. So if you're saying 'don't import diseases' - well yeah. But that's not the point here. Please tell which fungi, bacteria and insects spread through the vector you propose. Where do you think the seed you buy in your local garden center comes from?
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago
  I already gave several examples of bad stuff that spreads through the proposed vectors. If you would like some literature to back this up, here you go. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/070151/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/070151/full http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800904003027 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800904... http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vbz.2011.0814 http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vbz.2011.0814 The second one of those estimates the economic damage caused by invasive species in the US as $97 billion during the 20th century. If you would rather like something written for the general public, here is an info page from the Australian government - or you could just try taking your imported seeds with you in your hand luggage when flying into Sydney, and see how well that goes. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/diseases-fungi-and-parasites http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/... The seeds you buy at your local garden center are subject to national and international laws, regulations and agreements specifically written based on work of hundreds of scientists to prevent as much as possible the introduction of diseases and other bad things that don't exist where you live. The garden center has to follow these regulations (and document compliance) or they get fined. When you buy seeds on eBay or AliExpress or wherever, there simply are no regulations on the sellers. Do you dispute this simple fact?
- TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
  Some facts: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=entodistmasters http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10...

roel_v 10y ago

Diseases are just that, diseases, not invasive or not. 'Invasive' is about competition, not direct attack. Goes for all your examples. So if you're saying 'don't import diseases' - well yeah. But that's not the point here. Please tell which fungi, bacteria and insects spread through the vector you propose. Where do you think the seed you buy in your local garden center comes from?

semi-extrinsic 10y ago
I already gave several examples of bad stuff that spreads through the proposed vectors. If you would like some literature to back this up, here you go. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/070151/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/070151/full http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800904003027 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800904... http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vbz.2011.0814 http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vbz.2011.0814 The second one of those estimates the economic damage caused by invasive species in the US as $97 billion during the 20th century. If you would rather like something written for the general public, here is an info page from the Australian government - or you could just try taking your imported seeds with you in your hand luggage when flying into Sydney, and see how well that goes. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/diseases-fungi-and-parasites http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/... The seeds you buy at your local garden center are subject to national and international laws, regulations and agreements specifically written based on work of hundreds of scientists to prevent as much as possible the introduction of diseases and other bad things that don't exist where you live. The garden center has to follow these regulations (and document compliance) or they get fined. When you buy seeds on eBay or AliExpress or wherever, there simply are no regulations on the sellers. Do you dispute this simple fact?
TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
Some facts: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=entodistmasters http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10...