Invasive Exotics hit Twin Cays

		It is probably every field biologist’s worst nightmare to dream that he or she has been responsible for introduction of an exotic species to a pristine ecosystem, and that it has resulted in massive change, even destruction of the place s/he loves.
		Nevertheless, that is what has happened at Twin Cays. For years, researchers have been discussing the broader consequences of fertilization studies, and the effects of massive trampling as they and their equipment pass back and forth from a few, highly studied research sites.
Click in the photo for a close up of this lichen mangling lichenovore.

But it turns out that all that destruction is miniscule compared to what may be in the works now.

Awareness of the problem began this summer when Ursula Scharler first noticed the disappearance of the lichens at Twin Cays. On September 3rd, she wrote to the group asking, “Who eats lichens?” Soon thereafter, the first bona fide sighting of the new species occurred (see above). It was confirmed, caribou had made it from the arctic, possibly Alaska, to Belize. The consequences were unpredictable, other than being “not good”.

Of course, scientists are no different than any other political group when it comes to finger pointing, and several people were quick to accuse Matt Wooller and his student, Greta Myerchin, of responsibility. Though no one would openly suggest that the contamination was willful, it was also true that no one believed that caribou could arrive stuck on a shoe or accidentally stuck in an action packer.

Wooller, especially - and some say, looking as snooty as ever - has hotly denied responsibility. “Just look at Belize City in November,” he said. “There are Santa Clauses and reindeer everywhere, and absolutely no international controls. Who knows what he could be dropping along the way… they probably migrated in contaminated packing materials or ballast, like Asian longhorn beetles or zebra mussels.”

Though everyone is willing to accept that it would be hard for Wooller to have slipped a caribou into Belize past customs, that is about where charity ends. Each succeeding station manager has called for a full and open enquiry into the situation. We can only hope that there is one, and that something is done before it is too late!