Am I sorry I mentioned cats? No, I’m not. But it is unfortunate that it triggered one of the usual, predictable thread derailments. In case we have forgotton, this thread is about introduced species that benefit ecosystems. So far, exactly two people grasped what I was trying to say.
In some places, invasive rodents are also a threat to songbirds. And seabirds, for that matter. Songbird lovers really ought to keep that in mind before insisting that a predator of invasive rodents is 100% bad.
Now can we get back to discussing introduced species that benefit ecosystems? Before this thread gets closed, through no fault of the OP’s, for being derailed?
Good one! I know of several places where horses or cattle have been freed to simulate large ungulates that were driven to extinction by humans, like aurochs and wild horses. It’s interesting that this is done in Europe, but not North America, where people also probably drove a lot of species to extinction.
Oh interesting! I hadn’t heard of that. I’ve been to a few places with free-roaming horses and cattle in England, like Tarn Hows, the New Forest, and Dartmoor, but didn’t know there were any here at all!
I just noticed that someone posted a mourning gecko observation in my town. It is introduced but is not something you see here as a rule as it tends to be on the East Coast and we are in the North. But given it is parthenogenic, it could establish itself. Which has me wondering which gecko niche it will fit into. Does this mean less Asian House Geckos or will it affect the Bynoe’s gecko or the dtellas?
yeah i’ve heard of places in California where managed cattle (not really invasive, but a non-native species) were being used to emulate the effects of native tule elk. The goal was eventually to get tule elk back in but sometimes it isn’t possible, like in an area too small to support an elk herd. It can work well on the grassland areas, but cattle across the mountains in the desert cause a lot of damage and often don’t seem sustainable.