"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Des Higgins" writes:
|
| It is actually undoing millions of years of evolution by letting
species mix
| willy nilly.

In some places, yes. In the UK, not really. There are a mere handful
of plants (and PERHAPS two land vertebrates) that have survived from
11,500 years ago. All of the rest have colonised or been introduced
by man (and we don't really know which, in most cases).

It is true that introducing plants from outside western or northern
Eurasia 'undoes millions of years of evolution', but that applies to
fewer plants than most people realise. It doesn't apply to Rhododendron
ponticum, for example.


The millions of years bit was for dramtic effect; point taken.
I was just pointing out how bad it is to refer to letting grey squirrels run
riot or to not control rhodondrons or sycamores as evolution.
Evolution has been used and misused to make dubious political statements
many times and this was one.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.