Genetically Engineered Eucalyptus

They're trying to attract bigger contracts from paper and mulch companies.

I don't think they've stopped to consider the ecological context or the impact of eucalyptus oil. Koala bears are almost the only critter that CAN eat eucalyptus, along with a few well-adapted insect pests. The oil repels most herbivores and insects; even in Australia, not much eats that plant. Not much grows near it, either; eucalyptus groves tend to suppress many competing plants. Also, the oil is extremely flammable; if the trees catch fire, they can explode. The fallen bark remains flammable because it doesn't break down quickly; the oil discourages fungi.

Eucalyptus has been introduced to many warm areas outside of Australia because it's profitable. But it shows a pattern of becoming an invasive nuisance.

That would not surprise me. Introducing alien species to an environment is almost always detrimental to native species and harmful to the ecosystem as a whole. We've gotten lucky a few times, and the other times we've wound up with annoyances (dandelions) or disasters (kudzu, killer bees).

I once read a science fiction story in which the native aliens crippled a human colony by introducing species one at a time that caused problems. It started with a whimwham tree and turned into a shaggy dog story where each "solution" got more difficult and caused an even worse problem. Beautifully done. I think it should be required reading for all EPA and agricultural bureau staff.

Wow.

One of the poetry fishbowls generated "Weapons of Mass Destruction" in which aliens recruit Earth's sentients to fight a war. The cetaceans turn out to be the best, using musical weaponry, and the results are daunting.

Too true. And that right there is reason to think twice before humans go creating some kind of artificial life, especially the potentially sentient kind, because this-here experiment hasn't gone so well for Mother Earth.