Wisconsin's ecology is built around winter. The plants and animals know how to survive it; and there are countless potentially invasive species that can't survive. Those overland-crawling fish they've been fighting in Maryland have actually shown up in Wisconsin, but the DNR's not greatly concerned, because the winter will kill them off.
Not so the soy fungus that landed in the US this autumn. Fungal spores from South America hitched a ride on one of this fall's hurricanes, and spread rapidly across the South. These won't get killed off by the winter. May be a good year to plant something other than soy.
It's also a reminder of our North American ecological connection with the outside world. What goes on elsewhere affects us. And we are responsible not only to our own citizens, but to people around the world for the ecological decisions we make.
No comments:
Post a Comment