Hugh Raffles doesn't know ecology

Claiming, as he does in this NYT op-ed, that invasive species are good, is clueless.

Designating some as native and others as alien denies this ecological and genetic dynamism. It draws an arbitrary historical line based as much on aesthetics, morality and politics as on science, a line that creates a mythic time of purity before places were polluted by interlopers.

To such nonsense, I reply: "Tamarisk," also known as "saltcedar."

Or "kudzu." Or "starling."

Even worse is his personalizing this, by claiming alien plants enhance a society just like immigrants, then at the end of the column, turning to his own naturalization ceremony.

And, the NYT, even with a putative paywall, still doesn't let us peons comment on op-ed stories.