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March 9, 1999 Invasive or not invasive, that is the question When humans invaded North America, they brought with them a host of plants and animals that have become a part of the ecosystem of the continent. While some of those aliens species, such as cattle and wheat, are important as food sources for people, some species have become invasive, spreading into wilderness areas and competing with native plants and wildlife. At the federal level, this past February, President Clinton signed an Executive Order creating the Invasive Species Council that will study the problem of invasive species and propose a plan for preventing future introductions of nonnative species and for managing the species that are already here. While it appears that Monk Parakeets are becoming established (a permanent part of the ecosystem) in some areas of North America, the question is, are they a potentially invasive species? Could their populations explode and become a threat to native wildlife and plants or to agriculture? While we really don't know what impact the Monks might have on the North American ecosystem, should their populations continue to establish, Mark Spreyer offers his insights in his timely and thought-provoking commentary The Monk Parakeet: Guilty until proven Innocent?. Spreyer is the senior author of the life history of the Monk Parakeet, published in 1998 in the Birds of North America series (Vol. 9 No. 322). Personally speaking, as a conservationist, I don't know if it's the best thing to let the Monks establish. It's easy to be enamored of these little parrots and the prospect of regaining something close to what we lost when the Carolina Parakeet was driven into extinction. All I would ask, before our lawmakers and regulators make any decisions, is that we learn as much as we can about these remarkable creatures and that we deal with them humanely should we choose to remove them from the wild Kathleen Carr |