On Thu, 4 Sep 1997, John Shelton - ext. 4051 wrote:

> Would you consider the spread of the California Jay into the northwest
> as a natural range expansion?

Unfortunately, there are nearly endless "shades of gray" between clearly
native species, e.g. Ruffed Grouse, and introduced species, e.g.
Chukar. The Barred Owl made a rather impressive move across Canada and
south into Washington. It's been argued that its range expansion was
made possible by the extensive habitat modifications associated with
logging. It got here naturally, under its own power but it wouldn't
have gotten here without an unprecedented level of human-caused change
to the landscape. Green Herons have expanded their range into Washington.
Were habitat changes caused by humans a factor? How about Black-necked
Stilts; are they here because of the creation of extensive shallow,
emergent wetlands in the desert associated with irrigation projects?

What about red foxes? Are the natives in the subalpine areas of the
Cascades sufficiently isolated to have maintained pure Pacific
Northwest genetics despite the spread throughout the lowlands of red
foxes brought here and released? Mountain Quail - some stocks are
considered native, some introduced (we sort of think we know which
are which).

Then there are wildlife we would like to regard as native but they
carry a stigma because they were moved here with substantial human effort.
Sea otters were extirpated and had to be reintroduced from Alaska.
Bighorn Sheep were extirpated and had to be reestablished using animals
gathered from a variety of out-of-state sources. If we bring Upland
Sandpipers or Pygmy rabbits here from parts east will they carry the
stigma of not being truly native?

There's a web site devoted to exotic aquatic organisms in North America.
I had an email debate with the administrator of the web site because they
consider an animal exotic if it is simply transported by people to a
lake or drainage in which it is not native, even it is only a move of
a few miles. I objected to seeing a Washington exotic species list
that put Rainbow Trout and Olympic Mudminnow together with long distance
transportees like Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, and Yellow Perch.
I lost the argument, conceding that the potential for ecological disruption
probably exists for both short and long distance translocations.

On another note, I wonder how often our Pacific Northwest native peoples moved
live animals from place to place. Is the disjuncture in the range of Puget
Sounds' Western Fence Lizards due to long term climate change or did some
Yakama Indians simply pack a bag-full over on a trading trip to visit the
Nisquallies? How about Western Pond Turtles? Turtles are notoriously
portable, easy to carry - and people seem to like to carry them about
(after all, they're good to eat). Were they transported here prior to
the arrival of the Europeans? What about the odd Western Pond Turtle
that "turns up" in the Puget Sound lowlands; is it a relic from native
stocks or a recent arrival that got here by Chevy from Oregon?

I am an ardent supporter of native wildlife communities and I am bothered
by the homogenization of America that occurs via the spread of invasive,
resiliant plants and animals that tend to alter habitat conditions and
displace native species. The only problem with trying to espouse such a
seemingly simple philosophy is it's so difficult to define what one means
by "native" versus "exotic".

Kelly "the male" McAllister