G'day Carol ,
I totally agree with everything that Peter Ekert said , and believe that the
suggestion of the toxicity of Camphor laurels has absolutely no Scientific
proof or back-up at this stage . The person who " the information is
credited as a research finding " , has been waging a personal war , publicly
, on Camphor laurels for the last 5 years , starting with claims that they
were the major cause of the decline in frog numbers , as this claim has been
virtually dismissed , the shift now seems to be on birds and other wildlife
.
Many species of birds eat the fruits , fig birds , orioles , currawongs ,
silvereyes , pigeons ,and more , four species of butterflys (larvae ) exsist
entirely on the leaves , Brush-tailed possums , Ring-tailed possums and
Koalas eat a massive ammount of leaves , all with-out any visible signs of
toxic reactions , and in my observations none are suffering from sterility
problems .
Camphor laurels have been part of Nth N.S.W. for approx 100 years now , and
privet probably close to that also , these claims of the decline in frog
numbers , sterility in birds , and toxicity to wildlife allegedly caused by
these two species now being noted as " Scientific research " , hence
possibly "fact" , are totally misleading .
As you said Carol " it would not make evolutionary sense for plants to
sterilise their own means of dispersal " , for me , therein lies the answer
.
Regards John ,
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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