Invasive species levity, I hope, I think, maybe

I spend much of my time thinking about invasive species. So much time that I regularly begin to assume that everyone is as aware of the challenge of invasive species as I am, or that everyone is at least reading from the same page. In other words, I have lost the initial shock of awareness of a problem which I cannot begin to understand and the ramifications of which send me into reactionary mode. With plants, this amounts to the “don’t tell me what to grow, sell, buy, or plant” position. I long since have overcome this stance, and so it is with a strange sense of intellectual pleasure that I tripped over…drum roll please….INVASIVE SOILS…..

From a posting entitled. “Down and Dirty With Invasive Non-Native Soil”, I read with a certain amount of incredulity: “Using tweezers his group identifies and separates soil by type. Non-native dirt is then transported out of the park to holding areas.” One problem with the Internet is an inherent problem of certifying the veracity of a posting. A re-reading produced a telling quote or a significant typographical error: “We're attempting to restore the creek bed to its state on August 24th, 1843, at 3PM. After exhaustive research using Google, aspects of the science of phrenology, and an inventory of shovel blades from across the north state, we've determined that date represents the optimal health of the soil" stated Frolinger.”

Without further commentary on the potential for a great practical joke with shades of resistance to concepts offered within the invasive species movement. I notice an underlying truth: That the life within the soil is vital to the life a-top the soil. And, because the life within is mostly microscopic, it is mostly over-looked. Some research may find that alien, exotic plant species are changing the biota matrix within natural areas, with the result that native north American plants no longer have their historic soil partners, and can no longer compete with new comers, the ever-ready-to-take-advantage invasive species.

Remembering that some stakeholders in the invasive species question seek to limit the introduction of invasive species to natural areas in the hope that we can sustain functioning eco-systems, we must at least consider basic gardening tasks, which include amending the soils with changes as basic as pH change, and perhaps, the reintroduction of mychorriza . Years of liming, for example, have radically altered farm land once forested. Abandoned now, new owners struggle to encourage reforesting may be facing eastern natives inclination for a lower pH that is no longer found.

Let me close with a nudge, reminding readers to be wary when reading facts unverified. Just because you read it, does not mean it is fact. I try to be philosophical in my posting, which is another way of saying, opinionated, and do not pretend to be a primary source of information, but raher opinion, but, also try to be sure of the origins of my factoids. I am constantly aware of incorrect data in my searches on the web, to wit: a posting on this site, Tuesday, October 10, 2006, “Fall flowers and garden myths; ragweed & goldenrod”