Invasive Species

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Invasive Species
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Definition

• "non-native", plants or animals that adversely
  affect the habitats they invade
• economically,
• environmentally, and/or
• ecologically.
• disrupt by dominating,
• no natural controls

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Gypsy Moths

• introduced to North America in the late 1860s
• one of the most notorious pests of hardwood trees
  in the eastern United States

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Kudzu

• from Japan in 1876 at the Philadelphia Exposition
  
• no natural predators
• Ideal growing conditions in south

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Snakes on a Plane

• Brown Snakes arrived on Guam with armed forces
  during WWII
• no natural predators
• destroyed native bird and reptile species
• 9 of 13 species of birds
• 3 of 12 native lizards

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Zebra mussels

• native - lakes of SE Russia
• Prolific breeders
• Great Lakes - 1988
• Berkshires - 2009
• block pipelines, clog water intakes of water
  supplies and hydroelectric companies
• 1 billion dollars to manage Zebra mussels in the
  Great Lakes

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Tunicates of Boston Harbor

• Arrived in bilge water
• Suffocate filter feeders
• Foul lines, docks and hulls

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Asian Shore Crabs

• very broad diet
• disrupts food webs of native species of crab,
  fish, and shellfish
• overwhelming and dominating their habitat.

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Pythons and Alligators Oh My!
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Asian Longhorn Beetles

• attacks and kills many hardwood trees
• arrived in New York City in the 1980s in wood
  packing material

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Humans???
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Cane Toads ?