Invasive Species Education - Research Paper Example

Invasive Species Education Invasive species are alien species with a negative impact on the environment that they are introduced to. They are an enormous issue not only because of their ecological impacts, but their financial ones too. There are, at the moment approximately 50,000 invasive species in the US alone that cost over $137 billion yearly to control. Invasive species have several distinctive characteristics, including large amounts of genetic variation, a general diet, and the capacity to survive in a broad range of climates, an incessant season of breeding, in addition to the production of several offspring yearly ("Invasive Species - National Wildlife Federation"). Activities of humans such as travelling have influenced the spread of invasive species on the global scale. Invasive species, pathogens, and disease vectors affect ecosystem function, biodiversity, and services, along with human health ("Invasive Species: Impacts on Forests and Forestry"). Change in climate, land exploit, and transport vectors interrelate in composite ways to settle on the spread of pathogens, native as well as non-native invasive species and their effects on environment dynamics (Leuven, Velde, Baijens, Snijders, Zwart, Lenders, and Vaate 2). Early discovery and having a thorough understanding of the invasive species will need an incorporated network of study platforms and exchange of information to spot hotspots of invasion and disease surfacing. Partnering with federal and state agencies that watch the spread along with impacts of invasive species will be decisive in developing a nationwide data and a research network that can ease a complete understanding of the resultant effects on society and ecosystems. Citizen science can as well have a role; people can report fresh invasions, document phenological modifications connected with invasions and can contribute to efforts like the Breeding Bird examination, which could reveal long-standing biotic change subsequent species invasions. The environmental and communal impacts of invasive species differ across climate gradients, and use of land, and in the existence of worldwide climate change may aggravate both their spread along with impacts (Stokes, O’neill, Montgomery, Dick, Maggs, and Mcdonald 2). A good understanding the dealings of invasive species, with other drivers of environment change is vital to human health and financial comfort. The advanced connectivity of the international human population has augmented the rate and consequence of biological invasions. New trade routes amongst formerly disconnected nations (Aide and Grau 2004) as well as improved transportation expertise (like airplanes as well as barges) have raised both the rate and scale of invasions along with potentially lethal disease outbreaks globally. In addition, use of land and change in climate interrelated with human transportation networks to aid the increase of invasive species from local to continental scales (Simberloff 21). The inception of non-native species, as well as range development of native species with changing use of land and climate, can lead to intense penalties for the ecosystems they dwell in. Invasive species control ecological dynamics at manifold spatial levels of organization and scales, through local and provincial exterminations of native species and whole communities, changes in native species, abundance and richness (Perrings, Mooney, and Williamson 12), and changed fire regimes, quality of water, and bio-geochemical. Invasive species (after growth in human population and related activities) are leading to species extermination and imperiling in the US (Stokes, O’neill, Montgomery, Dick, Maggs, and Mcdonald 2). An approximate price of non-native species in America alone is more than $120 billion yearly (Pimentel et al. 2005). Since change in climate and land use can worsen the effects and spread of invasive species in scales recognizing invasion and limiting the increase of invaders is a huge ecological as well as community challenges (Leuven, Velde, Baijens, Snijders, Zwart, Lenders, and Vaate 2). Numerous current reviews of invasive species highlight modeling spatial increase (Lui, Cudmore, and Bouvier 36), species communications and environment processes (Myers and Bazely 43), evolutionary alteration (Perrings, Mooney, and Williamson 12), along with policy .To sufficiently address the ecological and communal problems of invasive species along with the spread of diseases, like avian-dispersed H5N1 avian influenza or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), there should be a continental scale network that monitors changes in the neighboring as well as geographic distributions of invasive species and to forecast the processes and ecological circumstances that endorse the increase of invasive species along with disease vectors from one site to regions as well as the continent (Myers and Bazely 43). Another way is to understand the lasting ecological, as well as evolutionary responses to environment invasion (Stokes, O’neill, Montgomery, Dick, Maggs, and Mcdonald 2). A synchronized cyber-infrastructure and better data portals would allow a more efficient incorporation of databases from federal and state partner agencies that check invasive species. A state database on invasive species as well as key ecological features to recognize potentially appropriate habitat would assist scientists to predict the spread in addition to effects of invasive species (Perrings, Mooney, and Williamson 12). Several such networks presently exist, counting the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network, Global Invasive Species Information network, the Non-indigenous Species Network, along with the Non-indigenous Aquatic Species Network. The most common reason humans introduce species somewhere else is for horticulture, even as others may be taken to new places for other reasons like hunting, farming, and fishing, or as pets. Transport is not usually deliberate – for instance, zebra mussels have stowed in the counterweight water of ships to reproduce in European lakes. Growing trade, as well as tourism in recent decades, could have led to escalating numbers of foreign species. Change in climate change could also have a role in the multiplication of these species, making some places more favorable to animals and plants originally from somewhere else ("Invasive Plant Species Invasive Species Education | The Nature Conservancy"). For this paper, I use a few examples of invasive species along with existing or probable continental-scale spread to demonstrate how each one invasive species differs among climate areas in terms of their likely spread and in their effects on neighboring environments. The zebra mussel invasion into the Great Lakes in addition to its succeeding spread to main river systems of the Midwest has changed a biotic factors, like water lucidity, cycling of nutrients, and structure of benthic habitat, along with biotic factors, like structure of food-web, bioaccumulation of pollutants, and the variety of native freshwater mussels (Myers and Bazely 43).The occurrence of this invader has as well led to the beginning of a roundworm parasite, this is accountable for dramatic influences on the cyprinid freshwater fish, the scrounger’s intermediary host. Models that make use of a biotic variable to forecast the probable range of zebra mussels project additional increase into river systems in nearly all of the eastern weather domains, and separate central points of invasion in the Pacific as well as southwestern US. Leisure boating will most likely act as the transport vector to link geographically cut off mussel populaces. Another example is the outbreaks of the gypsy moth. It has led to regional defoliation in the eastern forests, particularly in stands that contain aspen, oak, or birch (Perrings, Mooney, and Williamson 12). Temporary impacts comprise effects on light infiltration, cycling of nitrogen (N), and main production; the long-standing effects of defoliation are indistinct, but can engage interacting with other stressors like atmospheric N or pathogens. In conclusion, it is evident that humans have had a global effect on the spread of invasive species. Humans introduce invasive species in a given area for purposes like agriculture. An introduced species has to survive at low a population density before it turns out to be invasive in a new place. When the introduced species have a low population density, it may be difficult for it to reproduce as well as maintain itself (Myers and Bazely 13). The species may reach a location numerous times before it gets established. Repeated human patterns of movement like ships sailing to and fro ports and cars driving on highways present frequent chances for establishment. Works Cited "Invasive Plant Species Invasive Species Education | The Nature Conservancy." Nature Conservancy | Protecting Nature, Preserving Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2015. "Invasive Species - National Wildlife Federation." Home - National Wildlife Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2015. "Invasive Species Definition Clarification and Guidance White Paper Submitted by the Definitions Subcommittee of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC)." (2006): Print. "Invasive Species: Impacts on Forests and Forestry." Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2015. Aber, James S, Firooza Pavri, and Susan W. Aber. Wetland Environments: A Global Perspective. Chichester: Wiley, 2012. Print. Leuven, Rob S., Gerard V. Velde, Iris Baijens, Janneke Snijders, Christien V. Zwart, H. J. Lenders, and Abraham B. Vaate. "The River Rhine: a Global Highway for Dispersal of Aquatic Invasive Species." Biological Invasions (2009): n. pag. Print. Lui, K., B. Cudmore, and L D. Bouvier. Monitoring of Aquatic Invasive Species in the Central & Artic Zone. Ottawa: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2007. Print. Myers, Judith H, and Dawn Bazely. Ecology and Control of Introduced Plants. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print. Perrings, Charles, Harold A. Mooney, and M H. Williamson. Bioinvasions and Globalization: Ecology, Economics, Management, and Policy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print. Simberloff, Daniel. Invasive Species: What Everyone Needs to Know. N.p., 2013. Print. Stokes, K. E., K. P. O’neill, W. I. Montgomery, J. T. Dick, C. A. Maggs, and R. A. Mcdonald. "The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement in Invasive Species Management: a Cross-jurisdictional Perspective in Ireland." (0): Print. Read More