Natural Selections
Natural Selections
NCPR: North Country Public Radio
More fish: good for the flowers, bad for the snakes
5 minutes Posted Sep 9, 2021 at 4:00 am.
0:00
5:11
Download MP3
Show notes
The complex web of species interaction is full of odd associations. Stocking a lake with fish cuts down on dragonflies, which helps pollinators, which helps the flowers bloom. Or it can cut down on amphibians such as newts, which is bad for garter snakes. Invasive flowering purple loosestrife is good for insects and birds that feed on them, but hard on plankton, which is at the bottom of the food chain for everything.
Martha Foley and Curt Stager look an unintended consequences of human actions in nature.