The planet I have in mind has an abundance of plants and animals, but no sapient species or civilizations (think Earth before humans came along). Wouldn't Earth micro-organisms wreak havoc on alien ecology? I have heard that it would not be a problem since Earth life would be too different to pose a threat to the native flora and fauna, and vice versa. But then NASA destroyed the Cassini spacecraft in order to not contaminate worlds. Apparently, "NASA maintains an Office of Planetary Protection in order to preserve our ability to study other worlds as they exist in their natural states; to avoid contamination that would obscure our ability to find life elsewhere — if it exists; and to ensure that we take prudent precautions to protect Earth’s biosphere in case it does.”
I am thinking of getting my colonists to take their chances and minimize the risk of wiping out entire alien species by establishing a colony in an isolated island cut off from large continents. They would be farming Earth plants and even try utilizing the native plant species. Is this plausible?
EDIT : This planet orbits an orange dwarf and is somewhat larger than Earth which means it has higher gravity. Plants would not grow as tall as that of Earth and they would be darker with hues of reds and oranges in order to make the most of the light from the star. Life is carbon based and use water as a solvent and have many other similarities to that of Earth life. EDIT: You're right, reds and oranges are the colors they would not reflect.