In S3E8 of The Simpsons, Bart accidentally releases Bolivian tree lizards into Springfield. Fortunately for the townspeople, the lizards preyed upon the town’s problematic pest, the pigeon. Lisa expresses concern over the town’s short sightedness and worries about the ecological impacts of the new lizards. It will be okay though, they have a plan to deal with the lizards. They will release”wave after wave of” Chinese needle snakes, then snake-eating gorillas, and then “when wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death”.

As ridiculous as this scenario in The Simpsons sounds, a strikingly similar situation seems to have been created in the American Southwest. There was an alarming spread of the nonnative salt cedar tree and it was wrecking riverbanks. To solve the problem, Tamarisk Leaf Beetles were released into the area. The idea is that these beetles feed specifically on these trees and so they will be able to solve the problem.

However, it seems a new problem has been created. The beetles were successful in reducing the salt cedar trees dominance, but the rare Southwestern Willow Flycatcher has come to depend on the salt cedar tree for nesting sites. These birds are particularly picky about their nests, and so reducing the abundance of viable nesting options for the birds appear to be posing a problem for the birds. A recent surveys have tracked the spread of the beetles and their effects on trees. To put it simply, the habitats are getting wrecked by the beetles and scientists are hoping this data will help them make better decisions that balance the need to control invasive trees and to protect native birds.

Look at this adorable bird. Hopefully we will keep them in mind when we make such large scale landscaping decisions. To learn more details, you can check out this article!