What Makes An Invasive Species

An invasive species is a species that comes out of its natural environment, and enters another. These animals are usually very bad for the ecosystem and may cause an unbalance. These animals usually come in with many competitive advantages and can easily dominate any competition. This will give them the ability to eat as much as they would like without being threatened in any way. This could possibly diminish many populations and end an entire ecosystem.

Out of all the problems our environment faces like pollution and global warming, one of the most threatening problems is invasive species. An invasive species is an organism that is not native to an ecosystem and causes harm. They can harm the environment, economy, and even human health. When an invasive species starts to affect the economy, it becomes a bigger problem because it starts to get expensive to maintain and control.

Although the natural ecosystem is a dynamic system that is always changing in response to environmental changes ("Invasive Alien Species in Canada." Government of Canada, Environment Canada. Government of Canada, 19 July 2013. Web. 8 July 2015. . ) . Invasive species affect the ecosystem in a negative way, both in the short term and longer term altering not only the habitat but impacting native species abundance and richness. Invasive species are successful at adapting to new environments so readily because they are generalist. Meaning that they have traits and physiological characteristics that allow them to thrive in variety of conditions, they don’t have any predators in the new environment and they are able to reproduce quickly ("Characteristics of Invasive Species." Web. 8 July 2015. .).

With the environment, as one of the most commonly discussed topics today, invasive species are often included in these discussions. However, many seem to participate in these conversations with limited background on the topic. It seems that non-native species are unfairly given the title of ‘invasive’ for a variety of reasons which I plan to explore. As a starting point, it is important to understand the various titles that are allocated to non-native species that have been introduced into a new ecosystem. Under the umbrella of non-native species, there are multiple classifications given to wildlife found in a region different from where the species originates. The broadest of these classifications is non-native or exotic. Non-native is very much a cut and dried description; the species is found in an area that it is not native to. Beyond non-native is established exotic. A species can be distinguished as established exotic if it is first considered a non-native species, then can establish a breeding population. In short, this means that the species must not only be new to an environment, but can then survive and succeed as a species in that environment. Last, there is invasive. To be considered an invasive species, the species must fit three criteria: one, the species is not native to the environment it is found in. Two, the species has been able to reproduce and has created a viable breeding population in the new environment. And finally, the species has begun to cause

The biodiversity effects of non-native invasive species have been described as “immense, insidious and usually irreversible” (Veitch and Clout, 2002). There is significant evidence proving that invasive species can cause severe economic, environmental and ecological damage (Mack et al., 2000). A lot of time and research has been devoted to dividing the world into regions with distinctive habitats and species. Numerous pathways, mostly anthropogenic, are breaking down these realms and facilitating the ecological and biological invasion of non-native species.

An invasive species is a non-native species 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 harmful aggressive plants & animal. These species grow and reproduce rapidly, causing major harm to the biomes in which they are introduced too. If most invasive species are left uncontrolled in certain situations they can destroy the ecosystem they’re in leaving it useless for native species. The longer we ignore the dilemma the harder, more expensive the battle for the biomes will become. Most invasive species can terrorize your ability to enjoy hunting, fishing, boating or other outdoor recreational activities. “The United States suffers from $1.1-120 billion per year in economic losses due to exotic, invasive species.” (Invasive)

Issue: The environmental issue that I have chosen is the impact that invasive species have on the environment. The impact that invasive species have on the environment is vast, yet little is done about it. This issue is extremely important and will impact the world for generations to come. In this paper, I hope to learn about the effect they have on environment and what we can do about it.

Invasive species make bad situations into worse situations. Having a species from a different ecosystem makes them invasive species. Such as a toad or even bacteria being in another ecosystem other than their natural habitat.

Invasive species are very common all over the world. Invasive species are an organism that lives in an ecosystem in which they don’t belong. Invasive species are not only dangerous to people, but also the ecosystem and must be removed.

Invasive species don’t just cause monetary damage, they can completely disrupt and destroy ecosystems. Invasive predators like the brown tree snake can hunt native species to extinction because these species have not evolved defences against them. Even herbivores can cause indirect damage by feeding on the same plants as native herbivores therefore taking away their food sources. Plants can cause damage as well. Through various strategies they can take over the land where native plants would normally grow diminishing native plant populations. No matter what kind of creature an invasive species is it can still cause damage.

Invasive species are organisms that harm a new environment that they are not native to. Many invasive species like Eurasian milfoil are easily able to reproduce and can do so fast. Due to this, the limited space in a body of water or area of land is quickly taken over by the invasive species so other native plants face the risk of death or even extinction. Overall, these invasive species can do great harm to an ecosystem or an economy, causing problems that are destructive to numerous organisms.

An example of an invasive species is “Cane Toad.” The cane toad was supposed to get rid of sugar cane pest, but then it came a pest. It only has a few predators outside from where it lives.But when animals try to eat it a discharge of poison goes on it’s skin and the predator gets poisoned and dies in a few minutes.Also it has been released into out of zoos on purpose.The cane toad used to live in South America and mainland middle of America, now it has been moved to Oceania and the Caribbean also North Australia.What people do is they eat toad and make soup of their eggs but this ends up killing them.

Invasive species are annihilating the population of native species. One example of an invasive species is the python. These creatures are invading Florida and decreasing the population of other species; they may reach New York in 2100. Pythons are extremely elusive, so it’s hard to catch them. Another example of an invasive species are the starling birds; these birds can roost in hordes up to 1 million. Starling birds are lethal because of their droppings which cause diseases. Additionally,

Influence on ecosystems range from human causes like the bulldozing of a forest to natural causes like a fire or a flood.  In recent times, the introduction and spread of invasive species has transformed native communities rapidly and, in some cases, created irreversible damages.  In the Earth’s history, changes have often occurred in the ecosystems.  For example, glaciers and the retreat of glaciers cause wide-spread changes.  However, although change is a constant in ecosystems, animals and habitats often cannot adapt to the rapid alterations of non-natural stresses.  Harm to the environment from the introduction of invasive species occurs through changes in the habitat and declines in the native species.  Invasive species

Invasive species are organisms that are not native to an ecosystem and cause harm to it. These organisms are capable of bringing about a great deal of damage to the ecosystems they are foreign to. This can range from disrupting the growth of the environment it has taken over to completely decimating other species. The introduction of invasive species to new environments often involves humans. The way that invasive species are introduced to a new environment varies greatly. Invasive species may be introduced by something as simple as humans accidentally tracking species into a new environment from the bottom of their shoes, or something bigger like destroying an ecosystem to clear the land, forcing the species that lived there to flee to a new ecosystem that can be disrupted by the presence of a new species.