Maryland Invasive Species Essay

What makes something invasive? Is it when the object takes over? When it reproduces to a great extent? When it takes over all of your space? These are all aspects of an "invasive" thing. Invaders cause other tiny problems along the path of their destruction that can be difficult to control. In Mark Sanchez's, "The Invaders," and Aaron Hartman's, "Kudzu: From Pretty Vine to Invasive Pest", two plants, the milfoil and kudzu, are taking over. These invasive weeds have more than just being invasive in common with each other, they also share a hand full of dissimilarities. These plants have gobs of similarities and differences between each other.

Invasive species come in many forms; they can be plants, animals, insects, fish, fungus, organisms, and bacteria. Invasive plants are those which cause environmental, economic and human harm and originate from another area or region. They are a complex and difficult problem to tackle. There are more than 4,000 plants species found in Florida, of those 1300 or more are non-native or invasive. Many invasive species are taking over Florida’s waterways disrupting their natural ecosystem by outgrowing and replacing Florida’s native plants. Relieving the damage they cause is not easy, but scientists and members of the communities being affected are finding that it is achievable, as long as everyone works as a team to address the issue.

Invasive species are animals, plants, or fungi that are non-native to the place they are currently in. Some non-native species are not invasive, but if the organisms cause harm to the native species, then they become invasive. Some invasive species on the Pacific Northwest are nutria, bullfrogs, and yellow star thistle. These plants and animals ruin the ground, eat whatever they can fit in their mouth, and can cause diseases. These invasive species don’t help the environment or the organisms living in the Pacific Northwest.

Florida’s ecosystems are at risk due to the invasive species which inhabit our state. Because of the negative impact of the invasive species of Florida, we should be informed and aware of the effects. There are many non-native, not only animals, but plant species also which are of concern. Three invasive species that are harming Florida are Lionfish, the Burmese Pythons, and the Brazilian Pepper.

The major negative effect of invasive plants is that they replace the native plants. Other negative effects of invasive plants are reducing native wildlife habitat, reducing forest health and productivity, altering the ecosystem, and degrading recreation areas. These plants should be removed immediately because they grow and reproduce rapidly, meaning, that they grow a lot faster than the native plants and more in abundance. They also affect the native plants by competing aggressively on resources. To resolve the problem invective plants is by removing them and adding more native plants. Also, another way to stop invective plants is by not planting them in new

Starry Stonewort is thought to have first arrived in North America during 1978 where it made its way from the St. Lawrence River in New York (Schloesser et al. 1985). It is likely to have arrived from ballast water on ships that enter the Great Lakes; Starry stonewort spreads when plant fragments break off and are dispersed by boats and trailers (Escobar et al. 2016). Due to their distinctive bulbils not appearing until late in the season, it can go unidentified for lengthy periods of time (Pullman & Crawford). Otherwise, it resembles many other plants. Scientists have difficulty controlling this species of macroalgae; Starry Stonewort lacks a vascular system which makes it difficult to kill with an herbicide because the chemicals cannot be carried throughout

How White-tailed Deer Effect Native and Invasive Plant Species Populations in the Eastern United States.

The Puget Sound Prairies, are an important example of a rare and unique ecosystem, that are quickly disappearing. Their disappearance is mainly due to human development and invasive plants, specifically nonnative perennial grasses, which pose another serious threat to these prairies (Stanley, Kaye, & Dunwitti, 2008).

News article from MPR News Primer is about invasive species in Minnesota. It is mainly talking about alien aquatic species and terrestrial species in Minnesota. There are zebra mussels, emerald ash borer, common earthworm, buckthorn, and Asian carp as non-native species in Minnesota. This news article is also treat with steps how people as citizens have taken to prevent these invasive spread and how these will be in our future in Minnesota. This news article use image event to make attention by the pictures of zebra mussels and Eurasian watermilfoil. According to the textbook, “Environmental communication scholar Kevin Deluca (2005) has called these image events, or stages, visual events that take advantage of television’s hunger for pictures,

Invasive species got their name for a reason, and that’s because they’re invasive. Which basically means: They’re spreading everywhere even though, no one wants them to. Now let’s look at invasive plants. They’re about 1,300 non-native species inhabiting California (ipm.UCdavis.edu). And some have the potential to become a very harmful invasive species. They can cause many things: 1) Changing the soil fertility in an ecosystem, 2) Promoting a shorter interval (or in some cases longer) fire frequency that is not conducive to the survival of native species, 3) Creating a saline environment as roots absorb salts from deep in the soil and redistribute them from the foliage to the soil surface (ipm.UCdavis.edu). As you can see, non-native plants could really damage a new ecosystem. Especially when invasive plants thrive in said ecosystem, which could limit space and water for the native plants. And based on my research, invasive plants are as problematic as invasive

To be able to properly treat this problem we need to fully understand what we are up against. Purple Loosestrife is a semi-aquatic invasive species that has been observed in all US states except for Florida and all of the Canadian Provinces, it has been detected in a widespread area across Iowa. Purple Loosestrife crowds and outcompetes other plants and clogs waterways, preventing recreational activities An estimated 190,000 hectares of land are affected in North America, costing millions every year. Purple Loosestrife was well established in the US during the 1800s. It was most likely introduced by people who brought it from Europe as an ornamental plant and it has rapidly spread from there.

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

Introduced species can be seen as a threat to the native species for it can affect wildlife and plants in a certain habitat. However, not all introduced species are a problem. In fact, some may be useful such as plants that serve for food. Most of these introduced plants were either purposely or accidentally brought over by people. The reason that some of these introduced plants become so overwhelming for native plants is still not clear. Introduced plants normally do well in the habitats that are similar to the habitats they originated from and have characteristics that allow them to dominate with the native plants. It is still unclear why some of the introduced plants have an overwhelming impact on the native plants. An example of this would be an introduced plant that flowers more frequently and produces more seeds. For a plant to do this, it would be able to gain a stronger advantage over the native plants because it could reproduce faster and take over an area faster which

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.

According to the Department of Ecology for the state of Washington, the Cabomba genus is a small group of aquatic plants that have invaded several different countries. “The genus Cabomba is in the family Cabombaceae in the major group Angiosperms” (The Plant List, 2013). There are five species of Cabomba: aquatic, furcate, haynesii, palaeformis, and caroliniana (The Plant List, 2013). The most local to our community being the Cabomba caroliniana. This plant is also known for its more common names such as fanwort, fish grass, Carolina water shield, green Cabomba, and Washington grass (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 2015). Cabomba caroliniana is easily recognizable by its “finely [divided] underwater leaves that are feathery or fan-like” (Schooler, Julien, & Walsh 2006). The leaves are olive green and are separated into two types; submerged or floating (Non-native Invasive Freshwater Plants, n.d.). Additionally, the leaves are five centimeters long and emit mucus, which covers the submerged part of the plant (Cabomba caroliniana USGS, n.d.). The floating leaves are smaller and have a more diamond shaped (Cabomba caroliniana USGS, n.d.). They also are fewer than the submerged leaves (Center For Aquatic and Invasive Plants, 2016). Floating on the surface of the water are small white flowers, usually two centimeters in diameter, “that are composed of three white petals and three white sepals” (Schooler, Julien, & Walsh, 2006).