Press Association via AP Images
READ MORE ABOUT:
If you're an invasive species, you've got it good. You can often take advantage of resources that native species are unable to use, like the way that barbed goatgrass has been able to tap the low water and nutrient levels in the serpentine soils of the west coast more efficiently than native species. It has not only crowded out local plants, but resembles wheat enough that it has produced sterile seed and unmarketable crop.
Invasive species often have traits that predispose them to greater survival, such as fast growth rates, the ability to survive in a wide range of conditions and on a wide variety of foods, asexual as well as sexual reproduction, and phenotypic plasticity, or the ability to change phenotype to fit conditions of the new environment.
The adorable little water vole is one of the latest victims of invasive species in the UK, for example, where populations are succumbing to the predatory non-native American mink, which escaped from fur farms years ago. As if there weren't enough reason to avoid fur. (And really, there were enough reasons already.) Groups are working to save the water vole, but it's an uphill battle, so if you're in the UK—find out what you can do to help.
Economic damage
Invasive species, according to some estimates, cost the global economy $1.4 trillion a year—$138 billion in the U.S. alone—through losses in agriculture and forestry as well as management costs of invasive species. Those estimates would increase dramatically if we had monetary values for all aspects of nature that are affected, including losses in biodiversity, species extinction, and ecosystem services.
Some invasive species are intentional introductions gone wrong, such as the cane toad, most famously and perhaps most destructively in Australia. Introduced in the 1930s in an effort to control pests mainly in sugarcane fields, the cane toad has since destroyed local biodiversity levels, causing a decline in populations of several native predatory reptiles and an increase in some species of prey of those reptiles, and spreading ever westward to the more fragile ecosystems of Australia's national parks. Almost without exception, the cane toad has become a pest wherever it's been introduced, including many Caribbean and Pacific islands, threatening native species as it achieves greater population density than it ever sees in its native region of Central and South America. Efforts in Australia alone to deal with cane toads may cost up to $7 million over 15 years.
Other species introductions have been accidental, like the zebra mussel, which was first detected in North America in the Great Lakes in 1988. Native to Russia, the zebra mussel is thought to have been carried over in the ballast water of transoceanic vessels, and is now estimated to cost $5 billion a year in economic losses and control efforts, now that it's spread throughout the U.S. and Canada, killed the native unionid mussel, and damaged harbors, boats, and power plants.
Governments are on the lookout for new invasive species—the Red-eared Slider turtle, for example, is banned in Australia and some U.S. states because of its potential to become an invasive species in non-native areas. But given the huge costs to both the economy and global biodiversity, many say not enough is being done.
Fighting back
Learn more about what organizations and legislators are doing to stem the invasive species problem. Efforts are underway from the Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act currently pending in Congress to coalitions like the Global Invasive Species Programme that have banned together around the world to prevent further damage from non-native species.
Help stop the invasion
You can pitch in, too. Ever wonder why you're not supposed to travel with fruit, vegetables, or other dirt or pest-carrying items? They can carry pests or even become invasive species themselves.
Other steps you can take to help prevent the spread of invasive species:
- Before you buy plants for your home, make sure they are not invasive, and research plants already in your garden, and if any are invasive, replace them with non-invasive, ideally local alternatives.
- Don't buy exotic animals—they are often raised or transported in unsustainable, inhumane and often illegal conditions—and if you already have them or find yourself with them anyway, do not release them into the wild.
- Don't transport firewood—it can carry insects and diseases that harm both forest areas, clean water supplies, and entire ecosystems.
- If you have a boat, be sure to clean your boat thoroughly before changing bodies of water.
- Similarly, clean off your boots before hiking in a new area.
- Pitch in at a local park or wildlife area, or even just around the neighborhood if appropriate, to help remove invasive species. And talk to people while you're doing it--maybe you'll have a helper for next time.
- Volunteer. Download The Nature Conservancy's handy card and be on the lookout for native species wherever you go. Do it on your own, or volunteer to help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fight these species around the country, starting in your own backyard.
Related Posts:
Nature Inc. Episode: The Aliens Have Landed
How Your Backyard Photos Can Help Scientists Control the Spread of Invasive Species
How to Help the USFWS Fight Invasive Plants
Nature Has a Price Tag; How Much Is It?
-
- {}
