INVASIVE SPECIES

1
INVASIVE SPECIES

• OR
• ARE THE ALIENS
• ALREADY IN YOUR BACKYARD?

2
How poodles first came to North America
3
What is a niche?

• What an organism does to survive using available
  community resources, how it fits.

4
Killifish eats mostly plant matter and is fed on
by bass

• .

5

• If two species compete for the same niche
  (resources) one will lose over time. Example
  flathead catfish (large fish predator) water
  hyacinth (submerged plants, no light) starling (
  bluebirds) purple loosestrife (wetland plants)

6
What is a habitat?

• The address of an organism or where it lives.
• Examples sunfish aquatic box turtle
  terrestrial cactus desert shark marine.

7
HABITATS

• Habitats are often unique requiring specialized
  adaptations like hydrothermal vents or arctic
  fishes
• Other habitats like coral reefs have high
  diversity and complex interactions

8
ECOSYSTEM

• A community of living organisms and their
  physical and chemical environment.
• Not limited by size aquarium pond - lake
  river - coral reef.

9
What are invasive species?
Plants or animals that invade a new habitat and
cause harm to other species spread rapidly.
Well put the swamp here
FROG PIONEERS
10
Sources of Aquatic Invasives

• Ballast water/hull biofouling - crabs
• Aquarium trade - plants
• Aquaculture tropical fish species and nutria
  (fur trade)
• Seafood hard clam
• Bio-control Amur (Russian carp)
• Live bait - goldfish
• Canals - lamprey
• Nursery industry yellow iris
• Scientific research - oyster

11
Problems

• Disrupt complex ecosystems (change food chains)
• Reduce biodiversity (fewer plants/animals)
• Degrade habitats (fewer niches)
• Transmit exotic diseases and parasites
• Estimate is 10,000 marine hitchhikers each day
• 138 billion cost to economy

12
10 Rule of 100 exotics, 10 take hold, 1 becomes
invasive
Nutria and marshes
Loosestrife and wetlands
13
WHERE ARE THEY FROM?

• From other countries

14
From other regions in the U.S.
15
What have we given the world?
16
HOW DO THEY GET HERE?Almost all introductions
are by man.
Business Related

• Nurseries lilies (tiger lily) Norway maple
  water lily
• Aquarium Trade/live bait (2000sp. 30 countries)
  Hydrilla/Elodea and lionfish marmata turtle
  goldfish earthworms
• Aquaculture/Restaurants) Atlantic salmon
  Japanese oyster bull frog Codium sp.

17
Global Trade

• Ballast water (11,507,000,000 gallons per year)
  Japanese shore crab zebra mussel green crab
  jellyfish sp.
• Ship hulls and transport algae sp. tiger
  mosquito zebra mussel
• Intentional introductions starling Chinese
  mitton crab ringneck pheasant

18
Intentional

• Biological control grass carp, mongoose,
  mosquito fish
• Recreational fisheries enhancement/ research
  organizations rainbow and brown trout, rockfish,
  coho salmon, flathead catfish, Nile perch,
  largemouth bass
• Channels/locks/canals lamprey

19
TIED TO EXTINCTIONS
20
Solutions (Problematic)

• Chemical herbicides/pesticides rotenenone -
  snakehead
• Bio-control new introductions of species from
  country of origin predators, herbivores,
  disease grass carp
• Genomics genetically modified (GM)

Looks like another one of those stupid
Incredible Journey things.
21
Chestnut Nut Blight Endothia parasitica

• Around 1904 was introduced into the United States
  from the Orient
• Arrived in nursery stock in New York Bronx Zoo
  late 19th century
• Wiped out an estimated one-fourth of American
  forests in 50 years

22
Case in Point Chestnut blight 40 years and 3.5
billion trees gone
23
CONCLUSIONS

• Mammals, horses to pigs to mice, at least 20
  species
• Birds, pigeons to parrots, 97 species
• Amphibians and reptiles, mostly Florida, 30
  species
• Fish, carp to trout, 138 species, mostly warm
  water
• Again, the cost for these animals and plants is
  138 billion a year and climbing

24
(No Transcript)
25
Perhaps the greatest invasive is us.
Bill Hall University of Delaware Sea Grant Marine
Advisory Service