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Description
Invasive
Species are also known by the names non-native, exotics, and alien
species. They are typically transported by human across the globe
in the ballast of ships, aboard aircraft and trailer trucks.
Because their natural predators are left behind, most invasive species
take over the area. Invasive plants can poison the neighboring
native plants, insects can run amuck, and fungus can destroy entire
species, such as the Dutch Elm Disease. Many
countries have laws preventing the importation of vegetables, plants,
soil and the like (the U.S. is covered by the Lacey Act), but hundreds
of species are still imported by many countries. The Zebra mussel
in the Great Lakes cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage when
they attach themselves to ships and power plants along the water.
The Sea Lamprey are parasitic eel-like animal in the Great Lakes that
attach themselves to healthy fish, eventually killing the host due to
blood-loss. Elm and chestnut trees were decimated in the 20th
century by certain fungi. Invasive
species cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage every
year. The problem will not go away soon. However, local
groups around the world are attacking the problem in the their own
endemic area. Invasive
species can be eliminated by finding a natural predator (which is risky
since the predator is usually from the invasive's native area and may be
worse, and then usually only puts the original exotic in check, not a
local extinction), by actually going out and doing a whole-hearted
species extermination, and by eliminating any path the species may have
taken in the first place.
- Helpful
Websites
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- The American Chestnut Foundation
- Invasive
Species in the National Wildlife Refuge system
- INVADERS
Database System
- Exotic
Introductions
- Invasive
Species Specialist Group
- National
Invasive Species Council
- Invasive
Species Science (USGS)
- Invasive
Species (USGS)
- Invasive
Species (again from the USGS)
- Invasive
Species (NPCA)
- Scientific
American and PBS on "Alien Invasion"
- Silent
Invaders (neat website by Florida State)
- Invasive
Species (IUCN)
- Invasive
Species (Audubon Society)
- Strange
Days (PBS)
- Invasive
Species in Australia
- Invasive
Species in the Great Lakes region
- Invasive
Species in the Gulf of Mexico
- Invading
Species Awareness Program
- Impacts
of Introduced Species in the United States
-
- Helpful
Reports
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- Invasive
Species Web Report (by the Nat'l Council of State Legislators)
- Environmental
and Economic Costs associated with Non-Indigenous Species in the US
(1999 report)
- Harmful
Non-Native Species: Issues for Congress
- Ballast
Water invites invasives to the Mediterranean
- Preventing
the Spread of Invasive Species by The Oceans Commission
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- Helpful
Books and Journals
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- "The
Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants" by Elton
- "Invasive
Species in a Changing World" by Mooney
- "Invasive
Species : Vectors and Management Strategies" by Ruiz
- "Invasive
Alien Species : A New Synthesis" by Neville et. al.
- "Ecology
and Control of Introduced Plants" by Myers et al.
- "Species
Invasions: Insights into Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeography" by Sax
"Nature Out of Place : Biological Invasions in the Global Age" by Driesche
and Driesche
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Copy and Paste these book
titles into the Search Box below for available new and used copies.
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