Theo and JHAP, I somewhat agree with your statement that I have already started man-made selection by changing the landscape during construction of the pond. But I also disagree. We altered a small percentage of a large contiguous and consistent forestland. Yes, we would have decimated specific homes and nests of any species living within that clearing footprint, but we did not remove the entire environment that they would need to survive. We just moved them over a little bit and left them plenty of room to live and propogate in the exact same environment....just a couple hundred feet away from where they last resided. I want to say that we added improvements to their environment by adding the pond, but now that I think about it, maybe the pond drew in new species that might provide new pressure on the species that safely resided there without the water magnet.
hmmmmm......
