Dubious about the connections between national security and some turtles and weeds? How about economic concerns? "Attack of the Alien Invaders" also reports that "invasives cost the U.S. alone more than 140 billion dollars yearly." For example, the Caribbean tree frog, called a coqui, has "dampened [Hawaii's] 80-million-dollar nursery export business." Lost revenue aside, these little buggers can sound like "a thousand car alarms shrilling in your garden all night." Bummer.
And then there are possible health implications, such as the 2003 case of monkey pox, which jumped from infected African rats to pet prairie dogs to more than 70 people in six states. Luckily, no one died, but this illustrates how alien species can introduce alien viruses and the need for someone to stay on top of this issue. [See Grist's article on conservation medicine in Main Dish.]
But the most obvious concern around invasive species is their impact on local ecosystems. Non-indigenous animals can eat and compete with natives species -- sometimes wiping them out. Invasive plants can choke out natives, which can also impact the animals dependent on those plants as food sources. Check out the Global Invasive Species Database for "100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species," which has been reproduced in the current issue of National Geographic.
Not a National Geographic subscriber? Check out the various Grist stories on the topic. And if you do get NG, browse our archives anyway! Where else are you going to learn that goats are the hip new thing in eco-friendly weed management?
Have your own invasive species horror story? Do tell.
Comments
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jdhlax Posted 9:09 am
27 Feb 2005
Eucalyptus
Here in the SF Bay Area, eucalyptus trees are probably the biggest problem regarding non-native plants. They are all over, unfortunately including many parks. Their leaves poison the ground so that no plants other than eucalyptus can grow, thereby choking out all of the native plants. The only way to get rid of eucalyptus trees is to pull them out by their roots, which is generally not practicable or even possible due to the immense amount of work doing so would entail because of their massive numbers.
Many people here who are not aware of the severity of the harms caused by non-natives oppose getting rid of eucalyptus trees because they like trees. While love of trees and other life is a very good thing, due to their misinformation those opposing removal of eucalyptus take that love too far and do great harm to the native plants and the animals that depend on them.
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Chris Schults Posted 5:16 am
09 Mar 2005
Invasive Tree Species Infestation Spotted
From ENN courtesy of the Associated Press:
Who would have thought NASA would be involved in the fight against invasive species???
No word yet if the invasion is due to terrorists or some careless citizen.
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