Why And Why Are The Great Lakes Important?

A species that is introduced to an ecosystem by humans can harm ecosystems in many ways. Animals that are introduced into a new area, could hunt a main food source for some animals, causing that population to decrease. Plants could be poisonous, or need to feed off of other plants. Species introduced into an ecosystem by humans through off the natural balance of the wildlife.

The five Great Lakes and the canals that link them together make up the most important inland waterway in North America. They provide the inexpensive transportation system needed to make the Great Lake region one of the most important industrial areas in the United

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.

Back in the 1960’s, Lake Erie was declared “dead” because, ironically, it was full of life – just not the right kind (GLIN, n.d.). The algal blooms that formed due to high concentrations of nutrient-loaded city street run off invaded the freshwater lake, killing native species, reducing oxygen quantities, and smothering beaches with its slime (GLIN, n.d.).

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.

Some examples include the zebra mussel, sea lamprey, and Asian carp. The zebra mussel first came to the great lakes by traveling in the ballast water of a transoceanic vessel. Over the years, it has spread into the entire great lakes system. They are very dense with contaminants, which causes predators to stray away from them and not digest them. The zebra mussel has had many negative impacts on the ecosystem. A zebra mussel can attach themselves firmly to any solid object, which has caused water intake and discharge pipes to clog. Some other impacts include suppressing native mussels, over clarifying the water, and stripping water from various plankton that native fish eat. Sea lamprey are another invasive species in the great lakes. A sea lamprey is an eel like fish that sucks bodily fluids from other fish. They have traveled to the great lakes on their own by swimming up the Hudson River. They have contributed to the collapse of the whitefish and lake trout fisheries. Some prevention actions have been put in place and include chemical treatments of spawning

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 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)

The Great Lakes is the smallest of all the regions and consists of two parts, but is surprisingly populated. This region is comprised of the very southern parts of Ontario and Quebec. These two portions are separated by the Canadian Shield that extends across the St. Lawrence River all the way to United States. Its landscape is breathtakingly gorgeous consisting large water bodies, mountains, flatlands. The reason this region is so populated, is that it holds some of the majorly known bodies of water, including, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior. Much like Interior Plains, this region is made of bedrock formed of sedimentary rock during the Paleozoic era. This bedrock may be seen in an abundant of escarpments.

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

Pollution, invasive species, global warming; these are all aspects that affect 21% of the freshwater system in the world. The five Great Lakes and their surrounding land; Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Erie provide fresh drinking water for millions of people across the United States and Canada. The Great Lakes basin, provides fishing, hunting, and other recreational activities to the more than 33 million people living around basin of the Great lakes.

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.

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.