I'm very curious about this too, thank you for raising the question!
I spend a lot of time removing "invasive" plants for my work (questioning this term)--French broom, cape ivy, oxalis stricta, veldt grass.....I could go on. As a worker, it feels quite futile! I don't think we will "win" against these plants that have found an environment they thrive in....it's an uphill battle now, and every day they outpace us. I definitely don't think messing around with herbicides will protect biodiversity. And I am struck by how complex the natural world is, how little we understand it. These plants are living here, interacting with other plants and animals and microorganisms, evolving and digesting and reproducing and dying on this land somehow. How could that be a mistake? I feel fear and sadness about the anthropocene, all of the loss, death, and destruction--so far beyond what we have known, what we can imagine. And being inescapably part of it all. But to be honest, efforts (like mine....I understand the irony) to manually reverse this seem a bit delusional, a bit like being in denial rather than responsibility. Throwing ourselves into the labor of an impossible task, to distract ourselves from its impossibility. I don't necessarily mind it so much...I find my impossible tasks rather fulfilling. Going out and fighting the evil invasive species gives me a predatory satisfaction, I confess! But I wonder if our efforts could be put to some better use. Maybe we need to wrestle with nature for a while. Maybe in 20 or 30 years it will be time to try something else. Or maybe we can grieve and fight all at once, or maybe we have to.
I've been looking online for arguments and different perspectives on biological nativism--if others have any resources on this, I'd be interested to hear, especially about science. Here's one blog I came across that has been feeding my engagement in this question:
https://milliontrees.me/nativism-in-the-natural-world/
With appreciation and sincere questioning,
Caroline
