{"id":2726,"date":"2016-06-13T15:35:47","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T19:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nybg.org\/science-talk\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2016-06-13T15:49:25","modified_gmt":"2016-06-13T19:49:25","slug":"the-new-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

Esther Jackson is the Public Services Librarian at NYBG<\/a>\u2019s LuEsther T. Mertz Library<\/a>, where she manages Reference and Circulation services and oversees the Plant Information Office. She spends much of her time assisting researchers, providing instruction related to library resources, and collaborating with NYBG staff on various projects related to Garden initiatives and events.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"The<\/a>The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature\u2019s Salvation<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is the latest book from environmental journalist Fred Pearce.<\/p>\n

In recent years, invasive species have been on the minds of many people and have been the focus of a variety of organizations working in ecology and biology, including The New York Botanical Garden. As Science Talk<\/a> readers may know, the Botanical Garden hosted an invasive species summit<\/a>\u00a0in November 2015 to address the threat that invasive species represent to biodiversity worldwide. The summit featured discussion about conservation, including ecosystem management, and involved prominent speakers in the fields of invasion biology, restoration ecology, and not-for-profit land management. The <\/em>New Wild <\/em>is quite a topical book.
\n
\nAt first glance, The <\/em>New Wild<\/em> seems diametrically opposed to the conservation work that NYBG and others are undertaking, which is without a doubt one of the goals of its inflammatory title and subtitle. Most people who have worked with invasive species management, whether professionally or personally, will have a visceral initial reaction to the philosophy that Pearce seemingly espouses. Still, those who read this book with an open mind might in fact take away some interesting information.<\/p>\n

What is Pearce\u2019s goal? From the title, it seems pretty clear: Pearce is here to shake up the accepted norms of conservation ecology. He\u2019s intent on showing readers that not all \u201caliens\u201d (his so-called non-pejorative term for invasive species) are all bad all the time. What, then, is his hypothesis? Actually, that is less clear. That \u201caliens\u201d increase biodiversity is one of the ideas that he returns to again and again. That ecosystems are naturally changing and self-regulating is another. That humans are at the bottom of many of the more economically problematic \u201calien invasions\u201d is a third. There is plenty here for readers to react to and plenty of vagueness for Pearce to conveniently duck behind when making his points.<\/p>\n

If it isn\u2019t clear already, The <\/em>New Wild <\/em>is not a book with especially good science. Pearce frequently criticizes the lack of scientific data related to management of certain invasive species but then turns around and makes wildly speculative statements of his own without any data to back his claims. As a manipulative tactic, this works exceedingly well. As good writing and good science, however, informed readers will see right through this (at times maddening) stylistic choice.<\/p>\n

In the hands of less-informed readers, this book runs the risk of being downright dangerous. Why halt the spread of an invasive species such as Lonicera macckii<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(bush honeysuckle) when the invaded ecosystem will eventually heal itself? Pearce doesn\u2019t really acknowledge the fact that many ecosystems haven\u2019t \u201cbounced back\u201d from invasive species like bush honeysuckle, nor does he adequately address the fact that the spread of plants such as L. macckii<\/em> leads to the extirpation of many native species\u2014native plants that will likely never return, even if L. mackii <\/em>does eventually recede.<\/p>\n

All that said, there is definite value to be found in The <\/em>New Wild<\/em> once the reader understands that the title is primarily meant to grab attention. As a history of invasive species, it is actually quite enlightening. Pearce writes about the rise of a variety of species such as the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha<\/em>) to great effect. He also shines a critical light on existing land-management policies and failed restoration attempts. How reasonable is it to restore certain areas? Is there such a thing as a \u201cpristine landscape\u201d? Which species merit aggressive eradication, and which species have been treated with alarmist policies but don\u2019t represent as much of a threat to native biodiversity? These are questions relevant to land managers, ecological researchers, and the public alike, and Pearce does a good job of at least bringing up these ideas.<\/p>\n

As a whole, this book is actually worth the read. It’s always good to critically assess one’s beliefs\u2014such as the belief that invasive species put native species and existing ecosystems at risk. That said, land management is not a simple thing, nor should it be treated as such. The real danger of Pearce’s book is that some readers might come away from it with the thought that land management as a whole is unnecessary. This viewpoint is potentially very damaging. In his efforts to make the title and content accessible to readers who have not worked with or studied invasive species, Pearce may actually have done quite a bit of harm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are invasive species really the critical threat they’re made out to be? Fred Pearce’s latest book suggests the situation is not so black and white.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":2728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[613,690,172,689],"yoast_head":"\nThe New Wild - Science Talk Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The New Wild - Science Talk Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are invasive species really the critical threat they're made out to be? Fred Pearce's latest book suggests the situation is not so black and white.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Science Talk Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-13T19:35:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-06-13T19:49:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/978-080703368-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"457\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Esther Jackson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/\",\"name\":\"Science Talk Archive\",\"description\":\"Exploring the science of plants, from the field to the lab\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/978-080703368-5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/978-080703368-5.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":457},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/\",\"name\":\"The New Wild - Science Talk Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-13T19:35:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-13T19:49:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#\/schema\/person\/ff944871a8a036e568a4b2a3c49ccb93\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The New Wild\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#\/schema\/person\/ff944871a8a036e568a4b2a3c49ccb93\",\"name\":\"Esther Jackson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b478a2dfe2b4cb982e14704e0b3beb77?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b478a2dfe2b4cb982e14704e0b3beb77?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Esther Jackson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/author\/ejackson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The New Wild - Science Talk Archive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The New Wild - Science Talk Archive","og_description":"Are invasive species really the critical threat they're made out to be? Fred Pearce's latest book suggests the situation is not so black and white.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/","og_site_name":"Science Talk Archive","article_published_time":"2016-06-13T19:35:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-06-13T19:49:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":457,"url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/978-080703368-5.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Esther Jackson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/","name":"Science Talk Archive","description":"Exploring the science of plants, from the field to the lab","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/978-080703368-5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/978-080703368-5.jpg","width":300,"height":457},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/","name":"The New Wild - Science Talk Archive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-06-13T19:35:47+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-13T19:49:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#\/schema\/person\/ff944871a8a036e568a4b2a3c49ccb93"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2016\/06\/the-new-wild\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The New Wild"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#\/schema\/person\/ff944871a8a036e568a4b2a3c49ccb93","name":"Esther Jackson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b478a2dfe2b4cb982e14704e0b3beb77?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b478a2dfe2b4cb982e14704e0b3beb77?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Esther Jackson"},"url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/author\/ejackson\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/978-080703368-5.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9OgoC-HY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2726"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2733,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions\/2733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}