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Quote by Emma Marris

“To me, this suggests that our thinking around 'invasive species' needs to be fine-tuned. Instead of a paradigm where we see all 'foreign' species as malevolent invaders that should be considered threats to ecological integrity unless proven otherwise, maybe we should instead see islands species as particularly vulnerable to newly arriving species. Indeed, the over concept of the 'native' has some fundamental problems. It derives from precisely that frozen-in-time idea of 'ecosystem integrity' that, as we've seen, is riddled with conceptual shortcomings. Ecologists have spent decades assigning 'native ranges' to species, usually based on where they were when the first white scientist showed up to take notes. These ranges are pegged to an arbitrary point in time, a moment in the long evolutionary and geographical journey of a particular lineage.”

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Emma Marris

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“In addition, they say, not everyone in New Zealand is okay with strewing poison all over the land, or even support of the goals of the [invasive-species removal] project. 'The eradication of some introduced species is also contentious because some Maori regard them as culturally important,' they write. "the Pacific rat, for example, while targeted by Predator Free 2050, is protected on some Maori lands.”

ConservationRatsEnvironmentalismInvasive SpeciesWildernesMaori People
Book:Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World
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“Most comb jellies have little direct effect on humans, except through a minor role in marine food webs. One species, however, stands apart as the villain of the basal invertebrates. In the 1980s, the Atlantic comb jelly Mnemiopsis was accidentally introduced into the Black Sea, probably in ballast water carried by commercial shipping. Once in its new environment, away from natural competitors and predators, it reproduced rapidly – all the while consuming vast quantities of larval fish and crustaceans. Some (controversial) estimates placed the total seething mass of diminutive comb jellies in the Black Sea at over half a billion tonnes. The local anchovy fishery, already under heavy fishing pressure, was decimated. While ecologists debated what to do, a possible solution arrived, unplanned, in the shape of another accidental introduction. The newcomer was a second comb jelly, this time the voracious Beroe. Fortuitously, Beroe does not eat fish or crustaceans, but is instead a specialist predator of other comb jellies and nothing else. As the invading Beroe now feast on the Mnemiopsis, the fish stocks are showing gradual and welcome signs of recovery.”

Invasive Species
Book:The Animal Kingdom: A Very Short Introduction
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“Microplasticosis will be result of an invasive entity residing within all living things. What is this entity? Micro-plastics! They're here right now in all food chains, within all life and beyond. Will there be a cure? Sadly, no because it will be in everything and everywhere. We breathe them in. We ingest them. We cook with them. We drink them. We sleep with them & work with them each and every day. Sadly, in our race to embrace technology and a life of laziness & indifference we have created our own demise. They will change us and everything else in a way that we never thought possible. Microplasticosis...Remember the name because you, your family, your friends, and even your pets will have it in some form or another.”

EnvironmentQuote Of The DayAnthony T HincksPlasticPollutionHincksMicroplasticsMicroplasticosisInvasive Species
Author:Anthony T. Hincks
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“One final note on the biogeographic divisions of the world. The very feature that stunned Buffon and his contemporaries, and eventually led to the revolutionary insights that would define the field of biogeography—the evolutionary distinctiveness of different regions—is now waning in the face of the geographic and ecological advance of one species: our own. Few taxa and regions across the globe have escaped the biotic homogenization caused by humanity. Regional biotas are becoming increasingly similar as a result of two pervasive, anthropogenic activities—extinctions of endemic species and species introductions. In fact, these two homogenizing effects of humanity are interrelated, with species introductions being one of the major causes of extinctions of endemic species. Recall Gertrude Stein’s lament over the loss in distinctiveness of place—that “there is no there, there.” Tragically, this is becoming the sobering reality for the increasingly homogenized biosphere. While we may not be suffering from the muted, “ Silent Spring ” that Rachel Carson warned us about in 1962, the monotonous cacophony of coquís (frogs native to Puerto Rico) and cicada in exotic lands as isolated as Hawaii now drown out the euphonious, more subtle calls of honeycreepers and other birds native to the islands.”

ExtinctionRachel CarsonInvasive SpeciesGertrude SteinBiogeography
Book:Biogeography: A Very Short Introduction
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“And while it’s nice of you to want to call us ‘modern’ or ‘moderate,’ we’ll do without the redundancy. Islam is by definition moderate, so the more strictly we adhere to its fundamentals — the more moderate we’ll be. And Islam is by nature timeless and universal, so if we’re truly Islamic — we’ll always be modern. We’re not ‘Progressives’; we’re not ‘Conservatives’. We’re not ‘neo-Salafi’; we’re not ‘Islamists’. We’re not ‘Traditionalists’; we’re not ‘Wahabis’. We’re not ‘Immigrants’ and we’re not ‘Indigenous’. Thanks, but we’ll do without your prefix. We’re just Muslim.”

IslamConservativeTraditionalProgressiveMuslimModernismSalafiWahabiImigrants
Book:Reclaim Your Heart: Personal Insights on Breaking Free from Life's Shackles
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“La visión fue tan confusa y poderosa a la vez que se sintió mal y se vio obligado a detenerse, cruzar los brazos sobre el volante y reposar allí la cabeza, cerrar los ojos y repetirse en silencio que desde el inicio de esta aventura había jurado ser totalmente disponible, asumir todas las situaciones, dejarse llevar por cualquier sugestión, estar abierto a todas las alternativas y, esto era lo más difícil, mantener su inteligencia afilada siempre, afinando los accidentes azarosos o voluntarios que los demás crearían en su camino, percibiéndolos pero jamás impidiéndolos o rehusándolos”

Spy Thriller
Book:The Hydra Head
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“Without boring you with the specifics, I will tell you that it is an experimental ‘truth-serum’ formula, many times more powerful than sodium pentothal or SP-17; with properties in common with LSD, which is enjoyed recreationally by many in your country’s ‘counter-culture’. I’m afraid this formula will be decidedly unpleasant. SP-17 had the unfortunate side-effect of leaving the subject somewhat sane afterward. This, which we call ‘Veritas X’, will most likely lead to permanent madness…”

LsdInterrogationSpy Thriller
Book:The Edge of Reality
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