Native Species

My Science Blogs Colleage at Dean's Corner suggests that in the New Year all of us should think about eating more invasive species. I'm delighted to see this idea being promulgated by both my colleagues and the New York Times, because it highlights one of the best ways of controlling species that get out of control - eat them. The reality is that with almost 7 billion people needing food, Japanese knotweed, garlic mustard and the rest of the pests don't really stand a chance if we take these food sources seriously. There are a host of great recipes here worth considering. Not only might…
For those of you who don't know, today is Endangered Species Day. Started in the US Senate, Endangered species day is observed every year on the third Friday in May. The point is to call attention to all the animals that are at risk of disappearing forever. The fact of the matter is, we're losing species at an unprecedented rate. Of the 47,978 species that have been described by the IUCN, 17,315 of those are endangered, and for most of the planet's species, there simply isn't enough data to tell. For my part, I'm making a commitment. I have about five years at least to spend on these Hawaiian…