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Invasive Species Essay

Decent Essays

My aquatic invasive species is the water chestnut. Though it is not too common in Indiana waters, it is on the invasive species list, due to the prediction that it will quickly become a threat. It is an aquatic plant native to Eurasia. Currently, it is naturalized in North America and Australia. The states that it is most common in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, and others on the eastern coast. The water chestnut or the "Trapas Natan" is a rosette of floating leaves usually rooted in mud near small marshes, lakes, and nutrient-rich river banks. Its stem can grow up to 15 feet long, and allows movement in mucky substances. It has small white flower with four petals. The water chestnut plant produces a small, nut-like fruit about an inch wide. Each individual rosette can produce up to 25 seeds, leading to extremely quick growth. The water chestnut was introduced to the area by University botanists that were studying the plant. And due to the quick …show more content…

Other less successful attempts include using biological insects to control the population and large scale harvesting. Both of these failed due to the water chestnut replacing itself at an exponential rate. And as the seeds are carried by wind and water, they make their way to new areas, where they are established within a few days, there is no true method developed to stop the growth of water chestnuts.
My terrestrial invasive species is the mute swan. Other swan species like the trumpeter swan and tundra swan are protected under the Migratory Bird Species Act, the mute swan is exotic and was removed from the protected list. However, Indiana has a law against owning or killing a mute swan, so they are becoming a problem in our area. The mute swan is native to Europe and Asia, but is now acclimated to the Midwest and the Eastern Coast of the United States, where the population

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