Back in 2005 when my colleagues and I proposed using closely related species to ecological replace extinct large North American animals, there were many who cried foul. Too risky, won't work, impossible to measure - were among the top of the list.
By using a closely related species as an ecological analog, an important mutualism has been reunited on the Mauritius Islands: giant tortoises and island plants. The harsh critics of ecological analogs and Pleistocene Rewilding now have some solid data to chew on.
See Dr. Hansen's article in the recent issue of the journal PLOS-One.
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Excellent news. It seems like the slimest wedge of evidence but irrefutable and I hope it has longranging implications. And let's hope the tortoise, true to the fabled story, emerges with us all winning in the end. HOw are were the views from the rooftop of the world?
Posted by: doug l | May 27, 2008 12:04 PM
You can send a trackback whenever you link to one of the PLoS ONE papers...just sayin' ;-)
Posted by: Coturnix | May 27, 2008 4:56 PM
Cool stuff Josh...
Posted by: Pete Nelson | May 27, 2008 10:20 PM
I was one of the bazillion journalists who covered your rewilding article in Nature. At the time I was working for a classroom magazine publisher, and we got a mountain of mail from elementary school students who loved the idea.
Now that I'm at the Aquarium, I'm absorbed by oceans. Is there any talk of rewilding oceans? Or are oceans a completely different ballgame. Most of the biologists around here are concerned with getting rid of invasive species rather than introducing new species.
Posted by: Jives | May 30, 2008 6:28 AM