Goat

Black rat

Starling

Invasive Species also known as exotic species, bioinvaders

• Plants, animals & microbes not native to region• Accidentally or intentionally introduced• Out-compete native species for resources• Reproduce prolifically• Difficult to control due to lack of native

predators• Dominate ecosystems

Zebra Mussel (24 MM)

Caspian Sea to Missouri River?

???HOW????

Just a Long Ride Across the Ocean in a Big Ship

• 1988 – Lake St. Clair (connects Lake Huron & Lake Erie

• 1990 – in all Great Lakes• 1991 – into Illinois & Hudson Rivers• 1992 – Arkansas, Cumberland, Hudson,

Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio & Tennessee• 1994 – 19 states report zebra mussels• 2002 – isolated quarry in Virginia

Cluster of zebra mussels

Kudzu vines

Abstract Art?

Unique use of kudzu vines

Japanese Honeysuckle flowers

Is this a pretty picture?

Taking a chokehold

Strangulation

Field of purple loosestrife

Chestnut Blight Fungus

Brown Tree Snake

Impacts of Invasive Species Decrease in local/global biodiversity -->

decrease ecosystem health --> extinctioncompetitionchange to habitatdomination of habitatchanges in predator/prey relationshipscarry diseasehybridization

Am I an invasive species to the Galapagos Islands?

Effects Cont.

• Estimated U.S. cost - $125-140 billion annually• Estimate: 25% U.S. agriculture gross national

product lost to foreign pests• Nearly half of the species listed as threatened or

endangered under the Endangered Species Act are at risk due to competition with or predation by invasive species

What can you do to help solve this problem?

http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/