June 14, 2009

The conqueror’s biotic army

still from Oil Blue, Directed by Elli Rintala. Finland.
still from Oil Blue, Directed by Elli Rintala. Finland.
The alien ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi (Comb Jelly)
Mnemiopsis leidyi (Comb Jelly)

Oil tanker ballast water has carried the beautiful invasive comb jelly to a myriad of seas, where is successfully settled. There is an argument that conquering peoples (or ideologies) are accompanied by a successful invasion of accompanying non-human animal allies, who help settle the land in new ways that upended the unprepared native inhabitants. Of course, this often backfires (as do conquerors).

see the ISSG global invasive species database

see also the book, “Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe” Alfred W Crosby