Difference between revisions of "GCDAMP Invasive Species"

Revision as of 09:15, 1 May 2014

INVASIVE SPECIES- GCDAMP

Definition: Plant or animal organisms that move into new areas (habitats) and take over are called invasive species.

• Invasive species are harmful organisms that can explode in numbers, and potentially wipe out native wildlife and destroy habitats.

Quagga | Tamarisk

LEGAL AND POLICY

• Executive Order 13112, Invasive species, directs federal agencies to use relevant programs and authorities to prevent introduction of exotic plant and aquatic invasive species; provide for their control; and minimize economic, ecological, and human health impacts invasive species cause.
• When new introductions of non-native fish species are encountered, depending on level of treat and magnitude of response needed, control measures may take place through Emergency Response procedures. To the extent possible, NPS would coordinate with other management agencies, tribes, and/or land owners in watersheds that extend beyond GCNP or GCNRA to evaluate risk of new introductions from those areas and develp cooperative efforts to dter future invasions. (NPS CFMP-EA_pg 33)

• NON-NATIVE FISH HISTORY Non-native fish species present in Grand Canyon were mostly established as a result of intentional stocking to develop sport fisheries in the Colorado River and its trivutaries during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Impacts of these actions was not fully understood until later in the 20th Cetury when a shift to native species conservation management occurred in the NPS. Negative impacts of non-native fish and altered habitats on native fish species has been well-documented throughtout the world. Over 20 non-native fish species have been documented in GCNP; However, the more common, large-bodied, species of management concern include rainbow and brown trout, common carp, channel catfish, and bullhead species, striped and smallmouth bass. These species are known predators on native fish or native fish eggs or compete with native fish species.(NPS CFMP-EA_Pg 62)
• The fish community throughout Marble Canyon, downstream of the Glen Canyon Reach is GCNP, is dominated by non-native rainbow trout. The fish community changes near the LCR inflow near RM 60 where native species begin to occur. (NPS CFMP-EA_Pg 63)

[Source: NEI April, 2014] The Invaders

• Invasive species are not native to an area. When they come into a new place, they can hurt people, the environment, wildlife or the economy. Many harmless species also come into new areas. But we do not call new species invasive unless they are harmful.
• Invasive species can be animals, plants, fungi, insects, bacteria, viruses, seeds, spores, or eggs.
• Harmful new species are invasive when they reproduce or spread quickly. Native organisms don’t have a chance to develop defenses.

Web of life

• A healthy habitat contains many different species. Native plants and animals provide protection and food for one another. They help control the spread of other species, keeping everything in balance.
• Invasive species can wipe out almost all other types of life. They upset the balance of nature.
• Because they did not develop in the new lands, invasive plants don’t provide shelter of food for native wildlife. Some are even poisonous. *Invasive plants damage native plants that have supported local animals for hundreds of years.
• Invasive species often prevent shrubs and trees from growing. This hurts the environment because large shrubs and trees take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen back into the atmosphere.

Inviting in the Invaders

• Damage: Experts say that about 40 percent of threatened or endangered species are at risk because of invasive species. They are the second-greatest threat to marine and coastal ecosystems. (Habitat loss is the biggest threat.)
• Sometimes non-native species can be helpful, even if they spread forcefully. For example, honeybees that farmers brought from Europe now pollinate many crops in the United States. But experts say that most wildly spreading non-native species cause more harm than good.

How you can help

• Be responsible. Don’t take home pets such as snakes, alligators, that will grow too big to keep.
• Take unwanted pets to a shelter; don’t release them in the wild.
• Don’t flush aquarium plants down the toilet.

The human problem

• Most invasive species come to new lands because humans bring them there. Sometimes humans bring them in accidentally. Invasive species can come on ships or planes or in wood products.
• But often, people bring invasive species on purpose. They bring plants that remind them of their native lands, that can be used for familiar herbal remedies or that are pretty.
• People buy non-native animals as pets, and the pets escape or people let them loose. Sometimes, people bring invasive species to do a job, but the new species gets out of hand and takes over. For example, people planted multiflora rose as a hedge to keep in cattle, but it took over nearby habitats.
• Climate change is causing species to move to new lands. As the climate warms, many insects are spreading north. For example, the mountain pine beetle is destroying forests.

Horror Stories

• Battle of the bunnies: One of the scariest stories about an invasive species concerns gentle little rabbits. In 1859, a man released 24 wild rabbits in Australia so people could hunt and eat them. Ten years later, there were millions of rabbits. Rabbits reproduce rapidly, and there were no natural predators to keep them in check. Experts say the rabbits caused the extinction of many mammal species in Australia and the extinction of huge numbers of plant species. The rabbits damaged the environment. Because they ate the plants that held the soil in place, the rabbits sped up soil erosion.
• Attack of the pretty plant: In the 1920s and 1930s, extreme farming and building had eroded, or worn away, the soil. Huge clouds of dust blew through the Midwest during the Dust Bowl. Government officials knew a vine call kudzu (CUD-zoo) grew fast. Hoping its roots would stop soil erosion, they brought in enough seeds for farmers to plant 3 million acres of kudzu. What they didn’t know was that it would take over everything around it, killing trees and other plants. An insect that can help control kudzu entered the country accidentally in about 2009, probably in packing material. The kudzu bug does get rid of kudzu. But unfortunately, it is also invasive. The kudzu bug also feeds on soybeans. During the winter, it settles on white houses, cars and trucks. It smells bad and is hard to get rid of.

Controlling invasive species

• Most attempts to control invasive species fail. Insecticides and herbicides often poison native plants and animals and may harm crops and people. Controls such as insects can become pests themselves.

Sometimes people try many different solutions. For example, the nutria (NEW-tree-uh) is destroying wetlands on the East Coast. Fur traders brought it from South America in about 1940. In Louisiana, officials brought in a chef to create tasty nutria recipes. In Great Britain, a huge trapping effort captured all the nutria. In Maryland, officials are trying to find ways to disrupt the nutria’s life cycle.

• Contributor: TBD
• Category: Ecosystem