Genetically Engineered Eucalyptus

And here we have zebra mussels:
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/zebramussel.shtml

In fact, this whole website is a database of bad ideas that are now causing serious environmental problems:
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/

I was particularly taken by this article about money and population driving the invasions:
http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2010/jun/follow-money-wealth-population-are-key-drivers-invasive-species

>> The latest Bright Idea here is the introduction of a small beetle which feeds exclusively on Japanese Knotweed...<<

Well, that's marginally less stupid than introducing an insect that eats Japanese Knotweed and other things. But did they test to make sure the beetle won't decide that something over here is tastier? I doubt it.

>> Oh, and then there's the Harlequin Ladybird, which supposedly can't survive British winters. It's munching its way through everything, including our own native ladybirds. Surprise, surprise - they recently found a Harlequin that overwintered in Glasgow!<<

Yee. I hate those. They reached plague proportions here late last summer, and they sure did persist through winter. I finally had to bring out bug spray to kill the dozens in the house. I am most displeased.

No, it does not. But you are quite right about that assessment.

The problem is that people tend to think only one step ahead, and only in a narrow field. This is how our educational system tends to train and reward thought patterns. But that's not how the world works; the world is interconnected and Nature is a brilliant chess player.

One of the things I do is permaculture, not the fancy kind, but the work-with-what-you-got kind. I prefer native to exotic plants, although I have planted some exotics if they're things already in circulation for central Illinois. I think about what a plant does in the environment and try to stack functions: larval food, nectar flowers, edible seed or fruit, nitrogen fixer, soil binder, soil penetrator, beauty, etc. Every piece of the ecosystem connects to multiple other pieces. My prairie patch is functional ... but it's also mostly exotic species with some natives scattered in there. It works as a prairie, but it shows how much impact humans have had on this landscape. This inclines me to be wary of introducing anything, ever, to a new area.