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> But if mosquitoes had some heretofore undiscovered critical purpose for the environment But what if mosquitoes are actually bad for the environment? By not r
by jonny_eh 8y ago
> But if mosquitoes had some heretofore undiscovered critical purpose for the environment
But what if mosquitoes are actually bad for the environment? By not removing them we can be screwing things up!
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoThe 'environment' is often in balance. Any abrupt change can cause oscillations and crashes. May as well ask "By not removing this brick from the wall, I may be screwing the wall up!"
- njarboe 8y agoThe 'environment' is really never in balance. Predator/prey oscillations and crashes are the norm even without humans around. Maybe some ecosystems have been around long enough to have some properties of complex adaptive systems where the parts interact to keep extreme oscillations from occurring, but knowing how an ecosystem will respond to a single species disappearing is really unknowable until it happens.
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoOscillations are surely the norm. But total eradication is different. It may not recover. And it sure isn't unknowable - find what is interacting with that mosquito (something may be eating its larvae or reproducing symbiotically or parasitically etc). That dependent creature will be catastrophically affected, likely become extinct as well.
- sesteel 8y agoAgreed; I hate mosquitoes but I worry about change amplification. How will this ripple up the food chain? I wish this article also addressed the concerns, if any, by those studying the affects.
- blattimwind 8y agoTechnically, Lotka–Volterra tells us that almost no environment is in a stable equilibrium (balance).
- phyzome 8y agoFine, meta-stable. :-)
- XR0CSWV3h3kZWg 8y agoWhy do you believe that?