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INVASIVE SPECIES
DEFINITIONS
NATIVE SPECIES
Plants, animals, and other living things that have always lived in a certain area
DEFINITIONS
INVASIVE SPECIES
Plants, animals, and other living things that have been introduced to an area where they don’t belong
Invasive species cause damage to the environment
HOW DO INVASIVE SPECIES GET HERE?
Introduction by early European settlers for food, medicine, or something to remind them of “home”
Release of ballast water from ships (e.g. spiny waterflea)
Escape from fish farms (e.g. Atlantic Salmon in the Pacific)
Use of live bait when fishing (e.g. round goby)
Release or escape from aquarium or water gardens (e.g. fanwort)
Boating and water sports (e.g. zebra mussels)
Internet and mail ordering
WHY ARE INVASIVE SPECIES A PROBLEM?
Compete with native species for food, shelter and space
Can “take over” and crowd out native species
Can change the way native species use the environment
Don’t have natural predators in new area
Can interfere with human activities
Can interfere with farmers’ crops
Cost a lot of $$ to remove
CHARACTERISTICS OF INVASIVE SPECIES
Able to live in a wide range of conditions
Grow quickly
Have lots of young/produce lots of seeds
Able to move away and live in new areas
Broad diet (eat many different things)
Able to adapt to changing conditions
May eat/grow/breed at different times than native species
COMMON REED (Phragmites australis)
Native to Europe
Brought to North America in ballast material of ships in 1800’s
Has spread across entire continent
DAMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES
Crowds out native plants
DAMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES
Crowding out native plants can change the ecosystem:
the kinds of plants that grow
the animals that live in and use the area
DAMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES
Changes the flow of water through the ecosystem
Changes the way nutrients move through the system
Increase the chance of fire
DAMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES
On Wasaga Beach:
Block nice views of the shoreline/water
Make it hard for people to swim and fish
Keep people from using the beach
Threaten Piping Plover nesting areas
DAMAGE CAUSED BY INVASIVE PHRAGMITES
HOW DO WE CONTROL INVASIVE SPECIES?
PLANTS:
- Pesticides
- Cutting/mowing, pulling, burning
- Insects
ANIMALS:
- Trapping
- Poison
- Barriers
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
DON’T MOVE PLANTS OR ANIMALS!!!
Be a responsible boater/fisher
Follow warning/information signs
Buy native plants for your garden
Get involved in your community
Learn more about invasive species!
SEA LAMPREY
http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/fish/sea-lamprey/
ZEBRA MUSSEL
http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/invertebrates/zebra-and-quagga-mussels/
ROUND GOBY
http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/fish/round-goby/
GIANT HOGWEED
http://www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/plants-terrestrial/giant-hogweed/