Invasive Species of the Week

I have to admit, when I was looking for something to start this subject off, I asked a few friends what their favorite invasive species was. They all gave me the same answer: humans. You guys are so cynical and morbid! I mean, sure, we've adapted to live all over the globe and often push out other species to do so not to mention destroy large swaths of forest or swamp or grassland without compunction... Okay. So by any normal person's standards, we probably count as an invasive species. However, humans have adapted to be the dominant species on Earth. We have technology and global communication and travel in a way that no other species does. What I want to take a look at here is how our global expansion has contributed to the expansion of other species - and how that hasn't always necessarily been for the best.

A few definitions before we begin with our first victim:

"An invasive species is a non-native species (including seeds, eggs, spores, or other propagules) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic harm, environmental harm, or harm to human health. The term "invasive"; is used for the most aggressive species. These species grow and reproduce rapidly, causing major disturbance to the areas in which they are present."
- http://www.invasive.org/ 

"An "invasive species" is defined as a species that is

1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and
2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. (Executive Order 13112).

Invasive species can be plants, animals, and other organisms (e.g., microbes). Human actions are the primary means of invasive species introductions."
- http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/ (USDA)


You see already that the emphasis on invasive species is how they harm humans. The Nature Conservancy says this: "Invasive species damage the lands and waters that native plants and animals need to survive. They hurt economies and threaten human well-being.  The estimated damage from invasive species worldwide totals more than $1.4 trillion – five percent of the global economy." That's not an insubstantial sum of money. Governments and organizations around the world look for ways to halt and stem the damages done by invasive species all the time. But it's not an easy issue to tackle...

In the same way the ecosystem management is difficult, so is containing or minimizing the impact of an invasive species. In most cases, we simply do not have all of the information we need. This has led to the release of one invasive species to control another only to have the second take over and have an even bigger impact than the one we sought to eliminate first. We have doused ecosystems in deadly chemicals without even knowing what the consequences would be for native flora and fauna, or the watershed. Without a doubt, the problem of invasive species is real and ongoing - and we should all be a little more aware of how these things can spread in order to stop the problem from happening in the first place.

I will illustrate the problems associated with invasive species further by swinging the spotlight on a different one each week. We'll begin in the United States - simply because that's the area I am the most familiar with. And we'll expand from there. Tune in every Friday to learn more.