Objectives

1. Objectives Definitions Examples Stages of Invasion Arrival - how? Establishment What characteristics? Spread Why successful? How impact native species? Why are some ecosystems more vulnerable? Control and Prevention

2. Definitions: • Introduced (non-native, exotic) • - species introduced deliberately or accidentally from • somewhere else • - more than 10,000 species in USA • Domestic/Feral (released pets, livestock and game • animals) • - can spread disease, compete with native species • Invasive species • - species that spread subsequent to establishment • usually at some cost.

3. Vertebrates: House Sparrow • Introduced into • Brooklyn, New York, • in 1851. • Competition from the House • Sparrow for cavity nests can • cause decline of some native • species.

4. Africanized Bees • In 1956, African Honey Bees were imported into Brazil Insects: • In 1957, 26 African queens escaped • Reached US in 1990 • More aggressive than European Honey Bees; • have killed 1,000 people • Impact honey and pollination industries

5. Asian Long-horned Beetle • attacks and kills many native trees Found in Chicago in 1998

6. Introduced in 1860s • Originally brought to the US for silk production • now defoliates entire forests • Gypsy moth

7. Plants: Kudzu • Introduced to U.S. in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition • promoted as a forage • crop and ornamental • plant until 1953 • kills other plants by • smothering them • under a solid blanket • of leaves

8. Reptiles and Amphibians: Cane toad – native to Central and South America • Introduced world-wide to • control insects (Australia) • milky secretions are • highly toxic. Kill dogs, • cats and small native • animals.

9. Python Explodes After Eating Alligator October 5, 2005 MIAMI, (AP) Alligators have clashed with nonnative pythons before in Everglades National Park. But when a 6-foot gator tangled with a 13-foot python recently, the result wasn’t pretty. The snake apparently tried to swallow the gator whole — and then exploded. The gators have had to share their territory with a python population that has swelled over the past 20 years after owners dropped off pythons they no longer wanted in the Everglades. The Asian snakes have thrived in the wet, hot climate.

10. Gastropods: ZEBRA MUSSEL - Dreissena polymorpha • Found in 1988 in Lake St. Clair (Lake between Huron and • Erie, just off of Detroit, MI). • Up to 70,000 individuals per m2 • Likely came to North America • in ballast water

11. One of the most expensive exotic species • Restricts the flow of water through intake pipes • (drinking, cooling, processing and irrigating water) • Attaches to boat hulls, docks, locks, breakwaters • and navigation aids, increasing maintenance costs • and impeding waterborne transport.

12. Stages of invasion 1. Arrival 2. Establishment 3. Spread

13. 1. ARRIVAL: • Introduced deliberately: • naturalization societies • Shakespeare fans • game animals • domestic animals • Accidentally: • ballasts of ships • unprocessed wood • fruit shipments • by-pass natural barriers

14. 1. Arrival: Vectors of invasion into ecosystems • A. Intentional Release of Target Species • Plants for Agriculture • Plants for Forestry • Plants for Soil Improvements - fire suppression, erosion control • Ornamental Plants • Birds and Mammals for Hunting • Biological Control • Released Pets and Pet Trade

15. 1. Arrival:Vectors of invasion into ecosystems • Release of Non-Target Species (“Accidental” Releases): • Contaminants or Hitchhikers with Produce • Contaminants or Hitchhikers with Ornamental Plants • Contaminants or Hitchhikers with Aquaculture • Timber • Contaminants of Seed Stock • Cars • Planes • Hitchhikers with Packing Material, Cargo • Ballast in ships • Ship Hull Fouling • Tourists, Luggage • Canals

16. Ballast Tanks

17. 1. Arrival: Pathogens and Disease “Forecast and control of epidemics in a globalized world.” Hufnagel et al. PNAS 2004

18. 2. Establishment: Characteristics of invasive species • general diet and habitat requirements • high abundance • small body size • high reproductive potential (r-strategy) • good competitors • social / gregarious • (different characteristics may be important at • different stages) Generalities would be nice! Make invasion biology a predictive science.

19. Spread:Hypotheses for the success of introduced species: • Escape from natural enemies • predators, parasites, disease • Increased competitive ability • outcompete native species • Pre-adapted to disturbed environments

20. 3. Spread: How do they impact native species? • Can be predators, competitors, parasites, diseases. • Can modify habitat. • Can promote spread of other invaders. • Ultimately…displace native species

21. Percentage of threatened or endangered • species imperiled by: • Habitat degradation and loss - 85% • Invasive species - 49% • Pollution - 24% • Overexploitation - 17% • Disease - 3% Source: Wilcove et al.1998 BioScience

22. The Invasive Argentine ant

23. 3. Spread: Invasive replaces native through time

24. Phrynosoma coronatum • Declining throughout • its range. • A “sit and wait” ant • specialist. • Doesn’t eat Argentine ant.

25. Mechanisms responsible for invasion success • in Argentine ants: • Escape from natural enemies: • predators and parasites. • Pre-adapted to disturbed environments. • Different competitive environment - • competitive release. • Increased competitive ability - increased density.

26. Displacement or replacement? • Homogenization • “Process by which a mixture is made uniform throughout”. • Biotic homogenization • Increasing similarity in species among areas. • Habitat loss and modification coupled with the • widespread introduction of a few species leads • to homogenization.

27. 3. Spread: What makes certain ecosystems vulnerable? • Diverse, undisturbed ecosystems have few invaders • “Biotic resistance” • Disturbed habitats have more invaders • Human residential areas: • many European species that are commensal • with humans • Islands: little history with competitors, predators, • parasites, or diseases

28. Over 2,000 species of birds have gone extinct on islands as a result of habitat loss and the introduction of predators and parasites. Hawaii: Habitat loss, malaria, rats and mongoose

29. Birds on islands (from Case 1996 Biol Con)

30. Estimated annual costs associated with non-native species: Group costs (in millions) Plants (purple loosestrife, weeds) 34,000 Mammals (feral pigs, rats) 37,000 Birds (pigeons, starlings) 2,000 Fishes 1,000 Arthropods (ants, termites, other pests) 19,000 Mollusks (zebra mussel, asian clam) 1,200 Microbes (plant pathogens, animal disease) 41,000 All organisms over $136 billion per year Source: Pimentel et al. 2000 BioScience

31. How do we control invasive species? • In urban and agricultural areas pesticide/herbicide use still common • Natural enemies - Biological Control • Manage the landscape to minimize disturbance

32. Results of pesticide use • Killed native competitors • May select for resistance • Health risks for people

33. Biological Control: • The use of one species to control another. • Usually a specialist predator or • parasite of an invasive species. • Needs to be species-specific or can cause • even worse problems.

34. Prevention • Education is key • Research is still needed - generalities? • Monitoring programs - early detection • Prevent establishment - quarantine • Increased communication among agencies • Increase regulations

35. How can you stop the spread of exotics? http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/