I think the title "Darwin's nighmare" is based on a book by Tijs Goldschmidt entitles "Darwin's dreampond" about the diversity and evolution of the cichlid species in Lake Victoria. These endemic cichlids are a beautiful example of adaptive radiation, comparable to the finches on the Galapagos islands. The destruction of this diversity following the introduction of nile perch (Lates niloticus) in "Darwin's dreampond" was as an answer to that called "Darwin's nighmare".
Regards, Nicol Heuermann PhD student, Resource Ecology, Wageningen University -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ashwani Vasishth Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 5:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Query: Did Darwin have a "nightmare"? Thanks for the pointers to the documentary, folks (more on that below). That is, in fact, the source of my question. I'm trying to figure out whether the expression "Darwin's Nightmare," has significance from the history of Darwin's work. Thanks, - Ashwani Vasishth [EMAIL PROTECTED] (323) 462-2884 http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~vasishth * * * From: Ashwani Vasishth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Documentary: Darwin's Nightmare To: International Development News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: Environmental Ecology News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I just saw this documentary, which looks at some socio-economic aspects of the Nile perch industry around Lake Victoria. It seems that the perch is an invasive species which is said to be driving eutrophication by killing off other (native) species of fish that normally would have removed plankton from the lake's waters. As commentary, I'd rather have seen the film than not, but it left me quite dissatisfied. Its more interesting as allusion than as expose, and the sub-plots that are never developed (the political economy of the arms trade in Africa, the high community costs of AIDS, the constructed nature of poverty in developing countries, child exploitation and abandonment, ecological imperialism, the elitist bias induced in societal decision making by World Bank project officers, etc.) would each surely generate a powerful documentary in their own right. The important point, I think, is the implicit critique of the conventional development paradigm and the international institutions pushing this, which biases national economies so strongly toward dollar-generating export structures of a sort that ensure natural resource wealth is kept out of the hands of local populations. Here's a region that supplies the whole world with perch, generating huge wealth for some few, but its own people are left to feed of the maggot-infested carcass remains. As one of the characters comments in the context of a famine said to be sweeping Tanzania while the film was being shot, its not that there is not enough food in the country, its that the local people can't afford to buy any. Wow!!! Development--by whom, for whom? The recurring theme of cargo planes coming in empty to Tanzania and leaving filled with fish fillets to feed the world is also an evocative metaphor for the one-directional flows of wealth out of Africa throughout modern history, with nothing ever being given back to the people who, properly, should be the true beneficiaries of that natural wealth. Non-native big fish eating native little fish, even as they foul the native world and make it increasingly uninhabitable for local peoples everywhere, seems to be the proper depiction of development as we know it today. Take care, - Ashwani Vasishth [EMAIL PROTECTED] (323) 462-2884 http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~vasishth
