On Tue, 3 Aug 2004 19:57:41 +0100, atwifa wrote:

which begs another question: if you (as a gardener and an allergenic) had
the power to wipe out wasps utterly ... would you do it? i'm not making
light of the situation by asking, i'm just curious.

Heavens no! Wasps undoubtedly play an important ecological role,
even if we don't fully understand it.

I draw the attention of those interested to the current issue of
Scientific American, wherein the ecological consequences of the
re-introduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in
Wyoming, USA, are described. They are all to the good; the wolves
predate herbivores which had been in turn chomping all the young
tree seedlings.

Add wolves, and the trees start to regenerate after the
herbivores themselves are chomped. Who would have foreseen this?

The only folks unhappy are the ranchers around Yellowstone.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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