Cov tawm ntawm lub qhov rooj ntawm qhov cov xov xwm yog ib feature pondering lub ntiaj teb no tsis muaj mosquitos (los yog - toes). Li cas no puas yog xov xwm? Saib tsam muaj ib co tshiab vector tswj peb tau hnov txog! Qhov tshij, mus saib tsab xov xwm tawm qhov tseeb ib tsab ntawm xwm ntu “Lub ntiaj teb no tsis muaj yoov tshaj cum“. Kuv muas thaum chiv thawj tuaj nyob qhov no PZ Myers blog thiab pib sau ib saib… uas pib loj hlob tuaj exponentially ces kuv txiav txim siab rau qhov blog hais txog nws xwb.
No tag nrho Tshooj lacks ib xav cohesive thiab follow-through. Qhov taw qhia hais tias Janet faj tau xaus lus peb tsis nco lub ntiaj teb no tsis muaj mosquitos. Nws yog tus ib romantic ho; zaum ntawm koj sab nram qab khav rau lub caij ntuj sov lub tswv yim, haus ib Chateauneuf-du-Pape ' 61, haus luam yeeb koj tug neeg Cuban thiab noj tej Lavxias teb sab caviar (tej zaum zoo li npau suav lub). Tsis muaj tib buzz ntawm siab C yog hnov hauv koj lub pob ntseg, dev leg tsis khaus o thoob plaws tej tawv nqaij thiab tiv thaiv worst rau txhua yam, tsis muaj cov kab mov mob plants koj rau hauv ko taw. Li ntawd, muaj tej lub dreamy notion yuav mam Janet txhawb nws thoughturism (xav thiab aneurism) muaj ib co pov thawj uas txhawb los yog tsawg kawg yog ib poetic rambling reflecting ntawm nws tus premise. Li koj yuav muaj tau guessed lawm los, qhov no tsis hais.
Yog hais tias muaj ib pab mus nrog lawv nyob ib ncig ntawm, peb yuav tau nrhiav ib txoj kev rau lawv exploit. Peb xav tsis tau dab tsi los ntawm yoov tshaj cum tom tsuas yog lawv mob lawm.
Ua tsaug koj 6th voom Janet faj… huag tos, Nws yog ib qho intern thiab kuv xav tias yog cia li them lawm tias lub pov haum.
Janet puas tau nws cov ntawv ua tom tsev thiab ceev uas zaum ua hauj lwm hauv mosquitos dozens. Not a single one of them unambiguously stated that we would be not only better off without mosquitos, but that we should actually consider trying it. The general consensus can be paraphrased with the thought “well yes, mosquitos cause us incredible harm… but their impact on the environment is large and not understood well enough to say we can eliminate them safely”. Janet dances around this caution by ignorantly assuming that nature would fill the niche and any ecosystem service lost from mosquitos would be quickly replaced by similar insects that are somehow now harmless. Now we can all dance merrily through the savanna and nap under an acacia with a lion.
The boat she misses is a large one: the niche would be filled. One more time Janet, the niche would be filled… Li ntawd, if we lost mosquitos today, tomorrow we would have biting-midges or… hell – biting moths – that take their place. Parasites and pathogens are opportunists, as soon as the door creeps open a flood of novel vector/pathogen combinations would surface. The entire essay concludes with a thought from Joe Conlon from the American Mosquito Control that intimates this caveat.
If we eradicated them tomorrow, the ecosystems where they are active will hiccup and then get on with life. Something better or worse would take over.
Why this was chosen to be the most compelling quote of the essay perplexes me. Joe has a great point, life will continue with or without mosquitos, and we have no idea just what would take their place. Should we even attempt such a daring move? Cas Janet lacks lub Conference los lom tom qab yuav txhais tau hais ntawm no thiab txoj kev skips dhau qhov no tus lau.
Yog tias kuv sau tau qhov tsab xov xwm no kuv yuav tau mused ib pliag rau lub neej tsis muaj pestilence yeej. Sadly sim neej no tsis yog kom. Tab sis rau cov kev xav ntawm kev kawm uas niaj hnub, tshuab thiab tshuaj tau muab peb yam haib cug muaj tus kab mob mosquitos. Noj xws li mob npaws. Tau txhiab xyoo tus kab mob no yog ib tug hnyav tab kaum rau cov haiv neeg American, nws txawm zaum ua si ib hauv tus qauv ntawm kev hais sib haum ntawm lub teb chaws no. Tsis mus txog rau lub caij 1940's puas tau science hwm thiab zoo tshem tau kabmob npaws los rau teb chaws USA. Tso cai, tus thawj muaj rau containment yog qhov kev rhuav tshem tej vaj tse yuav tsis pom… tab sis, yuav muaj tsis muaj tsis ntseeg txog lub luag hauj lwm cov CDC ua si. Hnub no muaj ze li ntawm ib co nyob rau hauv kev sib ntaus cov tiv thaiv kev mob ua npaws thiab tsis kim heev dhau kev los kho yog cov nyob hauv lub qab ntug rau lub tsheej lab ntawm lub neej thoob lub ntiaj teb uas pheej raug kev txom nyem los ntawm tus kab mob no. Janet yog qhia tias peb siab xwb rau yoov tshaj cum extinction txhob siv hwj xwm? Tsis yog… ua tau Janet NW nyuam qhuav regurgitates ib tias ntawm nws tus kheej, tab sis ua premise she npau suav ntawm eradicating tag nrho mosquitos. Li cas no muaj peev xwm tsim yuav accomplished yog tshaj ntawd kuv. Ua qhov no tshwm sim muaj mob luag yuav tau xav txog, tab sis tsis muaj kiag li paving hla txhua tej vaj tse – tsheej lab ntawm cov nroj tons yuav muaj siv. ua li, nws puas tsis txawm tias tsim nyog lub dag zog los postulate ib kauj mechanism uas peb yuav ua kom tiav lub pob maim no.
Kuv yuav tsum rov sau tsab xov xwm siv yuav luag siv tej lus thiab rov ntawm title nws li “Lub ntiaj teb no tsis muaj yoov tshaj cum, tus hais lus dev yuav tua peb cov”. Ces kuv yuav tsum tau txhaj kuv txoj hauj lwm xwm thiab them qhov big bucks… tom qab tagnrho, Kuv muaj ib co caw kim thiab caviar muas.
Thaum lub kaw xav tias kuv yuav nyiag no Aldo Leopold tsocai muab lo rau ntawm cov commenter Zachary Burington teb raws li no tshooj rau qhov xwm website.
Lo lus kawg rau ignorance yog tus txiv neej uas hais ib tug tsiaj los cog, “Cov zoo li cas lawm?” Yog hais tias qhov av mechanism ua ib pob zoo, ces yog ib qhov zoo, seb peb nkag siab los yog tsis. Yog hais tias cov biota, nyuam qhuav pib aeons, ua tau tej yam peb xav tab sis tsis to taub, ces leej twg tab sis ib ruam yuav pov tseg yam piam seemingly? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.
Which mosquitos? Tag nrho, or just the small fraction of species that feed on human blood? The whole premise simply proclaims ignorance of what the question itself really means!
(Ua tsaug, Aldo.)
Chuckling uncontrollably!
Yog, the notion is just plain silly…will have to read the article. Now if we were talking about, hais, cockroaches… 😉
Could not agree more. I really don’t get that entire approach to/view of the natural world. Since when is it all about you? Yikes. Thiab, yog, ignorance leads to some pretty ridiculous suppositions. Just step away from the thinking space, and STOP PUBLISHING. Do something else.
I’ve had people ask me this specific question about mosquitoes when they learn I’m a biologist. “What good are they?” Tom qab sai donning kuv lub ntsej muag poker li ces lawv yuav tsis pom kuv “koj ON yog dab tsi??” cov tshuaj tiv thaiv, kuv hais, zoo, lawv noj 10,000,000 yoov, ntses, thiab noog. Lossis loj zaub mov los luj rau hom muaj coob.
Kuv twb zoo siab heev rau kuv paub cai tswj qhov kub. =)