A wild 'freakosystem' has been born in Hawaii

This Hawaiian island's 'freakosystems' are a warning from the future 4 days ago Share Save Matthew Ponsford Share Save Sean MacDonald A completely new ecosystem has emerged on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu composed of a mishmash of species from elsewhere (Credit: Sean MacDonald) Ecosystems which have never been seen before are being accidentally created by humans. They offer a stark look into the nature of tomorrow. Venture deep into the forests on O'ahu, Hawaii's third largest island, and you'll find yourself threading through a dense understory of richly scented pepper, cinnamon and guava trees. "It's beautiful," says Corey Tarwater, an ecologist at the University of Wyoming in the US who began researching O'ahu's ecosystems in 2014. Sounds like the "cheww-chewww" song of the pale green warbling white-eye and the chattering, almost electrical call of the red-billed leiothrix surround you. "There's really neat lizards around," adds Tarwater. "There's these highly structured forest ... Read full article.